


A Dragon Trainer's Diary

by CrystieSong



Series: ADTD Universe [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27475762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystieSong/pseuds/CrystieSong
Summary: Based upon the HTTYD Franchise and School of Dragons. Follow a young viking named Crystie and her best friend Storm on their adventures as they travel the world, rescuing dragons, making friends and allies, making enemies and piecing together Crystie's forgotten past. Get ready for the journey of a life-time...
Series: ADTD Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007649





	1. A Stormy Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to all who read this and welcome to A Dragon Trainer's Diary or ADTD for short. This is a passion project of mine that I've finally decided to post on here. 
> 
> I have already posted this story on fanfiction.net and Wattpad so if you want to go check this out on there then be my guest. 
> 
> I have some more stuff I want to get into but I'll get into that at the end. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter

**Dear Diary...**

**I may not know how I got here or where I came from, but I do know one thing, my life will never be the same . . .**

Crystie woke up with a jolt, sweat dripping down her forehead and her heart beating franticly. Her skin felt like ice and her limbs felt numb. She slowly sat up and looked around to see where she was to hopefully get some answers. The young viking was on a beach that was spread out around her, the crystal blue ocean streched out as far as the eye could see and a line of pine trees and rocks dotted the line where the sand met the earth while the sun hung high in the sky. Crystie slowly stood up and walked to the edge of the water to see her reflection. The young viking was wearing a reddish-brown sleeveless top which was covered by a light brown lether hoodie; her eyes were a chestnut brown and her wavy hair was a similar shade of colour and was partly tied up in a ponytail. Her skin was a warm ivory colour. She was wearing a beige and white draped skirt that went down to her ankles with crimsion coloured trousers and sky-blue boots.

Crystie shook her head trying to figure out what happened. The only thing she could remember was being in a harsh thunderstorm and falling into the ocean. She closed her eyes and kept shaking her head while slowly walking backwards trying to get a clearer answer but ended up tripping over something and falling flat on her back. Crystie looked up at the bright sun hanging up in the sky; it was about midday, she sighed, she was not having a good day.

Breathing a heavy sigh, the young viking sat up and looked out at the endless sea. Where was she and how did she get here?. Her thoughts were broken when her eyes landed on a slightly battered brown bag that sat by her feet, half buried in the sand. A feeling of familiarity coursed through Crystie as she stared at the old bag. She slowly got up, stepped over to the bag and picked it up, still staring at it.

Crystie did not know why she kept staring at the bag, maybe she hoped it would give her some answers, but she knew that was unlikely. A loud roar shook Crystie out her thoughts. It was getting quite cold on the beach and Crystie was starting to feel a shiver crawling up her spine. With another heavy sigh, the young viking flung her bag over her shoulder and started walking up the steady sandy slope and into the unknown forest.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The forest was vast and elegant, with humongous pine trees that filtered in the warm sunlight and the ground was a mixture of fallen leaves, broken twigs and ferns scattered about. Crystie was taking a stroll through the forest, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the beautiful forest. She was attempting to climb up a steep hill and even though it provided to be a bit of a challenge, Crystie was not giving up. She eventually made it to the top although she was a bit out of breath but that didn't bother her, the view was worth it. The young viking could see much of the island from her spot even though it wasn't very high, there was a small mountain in the north-east, a medium sized lake to the north-west and trees spread everywhere else with the ocean encasing the whole thing. It was breath-taking.

Crystie forgot she was at the top of a hill so when she went to take a step, she ended up falling down the hill, luckily landing on a pile of soft leaves and branches. Slowly, she got up and rubbed head. It slightly hurt but it wasn't much of a problem.

The young viking started walking again but stopped when she saw something infront of her. It had a feeling of familiarity like her bag but this time it was different. The creature was a quite taller than Crystie and had a crown of spikes that were snow white, a nasal horn of the same colour, a beak-like upper jaw with an overbite, its posture was that of a bird with large wings and wide clawed feet, it had a spiny tail and its colours were a dark shade of blue mixed with some white on the tail and the underbelly.

Crystie was struck with a mixture of fear and curiosity, she wanted to run away but she also curious to know more about this mysterious creature. Before a decision could be made the creature noticed Crystie which made her stiffen up in fear. It started slowly walking up to her, sniffing her, examining her.

The creature stopped right infront of Crystie and stared into its eyes. There was a no look of anger or spite but a look of intrigue and comfort. Crystie looked into the creature's eyes and the creature looked back. A feeling of relaxation came over Crystie as she realized there was no threat. She reached her hand out and placed it on the creature's snout, its scales felt cool and smooth. That feeling of familiarity came across her once again and she couldn't pinpoint why. "Why are you so familiar?" Crystie asked as she kept stroking.

Suddenly, a rather loud snap echoed throughout the area which startled both Crystie and the creature. Crystie stopped stroking the creature and franticly looked around trying to find the source of that sudden noise. A large branched landed unexpectedly infront of Crystie which made her jump. Slowly and regrettably she looked up into the canopy of the trees. There were several creatures like the one she was standing next to perched on branches, glaring at her. One of the creatures started growling which made the rest of them start growling. That same one leapt down from the trees and landed infront of Crystie with a thud. It had a similar colouring to the creature next to her except this one had black spikes instead of white. She guessed it was the leader by the commanding presence it held. It had a glare of hatred in its eyes which sent a shiver down Crysties spine. Crystie had a sudden realization, she remembered what these creatures were, well, what type of creature they were, Dragons.

The lead dragon gave a deafening roar that made Crystie cover her ears. The other dragons perched in the trees roared in response and started to jump down. Crystie quickly spun around on her foot, trying to not look any of the dragons in the eyes and starts running for her life, which made the flock of dragons start chasing her as well.

The forest turned to a blur as the young viking sped through it, the flock behind her still in pursuit, probably out for blood by the vicious look in their eyes. She leaped over fallen logs, narrow streams and small gaps in the earth trying to escape them.

Crystie suddenly stopped in her tracks when she came across a steep cliff, her feet right on the edge, her arms out for balance. A few stray rocks crumbled off the ledge and fell into the deep chasm below. She leaned back, stepping away from the edge and took a deep breath. Her relief was short lived however as a low growl behind her made Crystie's blood turn cold. With fear and regret she turned around to confront the vicious dragons.

The whole flock was standing a few feet from her, the lead dragon in the front of the crowd. Crystie skimmed the crowd of dragons but she sadly could not see the friendly dragon she had encountered moments before. The lead dragon took a step forward which made Crystie take a step back, her feet slightly off the edge. The dragon began to charge up what looked like an attack. Crystie closed her eyes and braced for impact. Impact, however, never came.

The young viking slowly opened her eyes, wondering why she hadn't been sent flying off the edge. To Crystie's surprise, between her and the wild flock was the friendly dragon from earlier. It had its tail up with its spines raised, growling at the dragon leader who was growling back. The two dragons kept squawking back and forth, getting angrier with each other with each passing second.

Then the leader took a step forward which made the friendly dragon take a step back. The leader kept stepping forward which made the other dragon keep stepping back, getting closer and closer to Crystie. Crystie kept edging backwards, trying to make some distance between her and the dragons. She had forgotten how close to the edge she was, as she took a step to far off the edge, which made her slip and fall backwards and off the cliff. Crystie felt her breath leave her as she fell towards the ground. She closed her eyes and waited for impact.

A loud roar made Crystie's eyes shoot open in alarm. A figure coming towards her at a fast speed. It was the friendly dragon. Crystie was happy to see the dragon but was also terrified as she was still falling. The dragon had caught up to Crystie, wrapped its wings around her and hugged her close to its chest.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They hit the stony ground with a loud thud and Crystie tumbled away from the dragon and landed face down on the ground. The young viking lay on the ground, not wanting to get up. She slowly sat up and checked herself for any injuries. There was a small cut on her right arm near her wrist, it was slightly bleeding but not to serious and other than a few small bruises and a bit of a headache she was doing alright. She gave a deep sigh of relief and looked up. They had fallen down a deep hole that had rough stone walls that encased the whole area. Crystie could see the sky but it was quite high up and it looked like there was no clear way to get out.

The young viking heard a low growl of pain which made her turn her head. Her eyes landed on the dragon who saved her life. They were laying on their front, wings sprawled out and had their eyes closed. Crystie noticed there was a gash on their shoulder joint that was bleeding profusely. The young viking slowly got up, staggering a bit but managing to hold her balance. She slowly made her way over to the injured dragon and knelt beside it. Crystie put her hand on the dragon's snout and slowly stroked its smooth scales. "Why did you save me, why are you different from the others?" the young viking wandered as she continued to stroke the dark blue scales.

The dragon began to stir and slowly opened its bright yellow eyes. Its eyes met Crystie's and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. Crystie gave a small smile and kept stroking the dragons snout. "Don't worry everything's going to be alright" Crystie reassured the injured reptile. The dark blue dragon seemed to squawk in agreement.

Crystie stood up and began to think. "I need something to wash the blood off" Crystie pondered. She looked around the area to see if there was anything that could be of use. "Something, something..." Crystie muttered to herself as she kept looking. Her sight landed on a small river through the area, "Something like that" she exclaimed. The young viking walked back over to the injured dragon and knelt beside it. "Hey" Crystie said in a hushed voice. The dragon looked over at Crystie and seemed to smile. "can you get up; I need to get you to the river" Crystie asked while pointing to the small river. The dragon nodded and slowly stood up but fell back onto the ground; The young viking rushed to the dragon and supported its injured side.

Crystie lead the injured dragon into the small river and began washing water over the bleeding wound, washing away the blood. She also washed the cut on her arm, so the cut was no longer bleeding. The dragon stepped out of the river, shook itself dry and lay down on the stone floor. Crystie walked over to the resting and knelt beside it as she put her bag in her lap.

The bag was dark brown with a strap that went over the shoulder, the bag was battered but still in good shape. Crystie opened the bag and looked at the contents inside. The first thing she noticed was a pile of clean bandages. She picked up the bandages and started wrapping them around the dragon's wound until it was nicely secured, she then wrapped some bandages around her own cut. Crystie then put the rest of the bandages to one side then went back to the bag. The next thing she found was some spare clothes which she just left the bag. She moved onto a red dragon toy. The toy was a dark crimsion colour, with six black spines on their head with more black spines going down its spine. It also had two large red wings, spots covering its whole body. It also had six fins going along its tail and two big black buttons for eyes. The toy felt soft in her hands and it had a feeling of familiarity, but once again she couldn't pinpoint why. She put the toy next to her and continued looking through the bag. An empty book and some pencils were the next thing she found. She found nothing of interest in the book and pencils and put them next to her and kept digging. She spotted some blankets at the bottom at the bag but what caught her interest was the big book left in the bag. Crystie put everything else back in the bag and took out the book to examine it.

The book was a dark brown and it was quite a thick book. It was labelled 'Book of Dragons'. The young viking opened the book to its first page. The first page had a red symbol dragon, the same type of dragon that her toy was. There was writing underneath the symbol, the writing said, 'Book of Dragons written by Bensi Hatlen'. Crystie felt she had heard that name before, she knew that she knew that name but once again she couldn't remember where from.

Frustrated, Crystie closed the book and hit herself in the head with the book. There was instant regret. "shouldn't have done that, definitely shouldn't have done that" She muttered under her breath as she rubbed her head. The dragon turned its head to make sure Crystie was alright. "I'm fine, it's just a little headache" she assured the worried dragon. The dragon seemed to nod in understanding and Crystie went back to reading the book. She opened the book back up and began looking through the pages.

There were several different kinds of dragons in the book. Big dragons, little dragons, snowy dragons, desert dragons, swamp dragons, jungle dragons and so many more. Crystie kept flipping through the pages until she landed on a certain page. The page was about a species called the 'Deadly Nadder'. The young viking looked at the sketch of the Deadly Nadder. It looked exactly like the dragon she was sitting next to on. She noticed a smaller sketch underneath the big dragon sketch, it was a sketch of two Deadly Nadder heads, one with an overbite labelled 'female' and one with an underbite labelled 'male'. Crystie realized the Deadly Nadder she was sitting next to must be a female due to its overbite.

She closed the book, put it back in her bag and sighed. She nudged herself over to the dragon, leaning back and putting her hands behind her head while resting on the resting dragon. Crystie turned her head towards the dragon. "Hey" she said, the dragon turned her head towards Crystie and titled its head in confusion. "do you mind if I give you a name, it's just I don't want to keep calling you dragon" Crystie continued. The dragon shook its head. "Okay then" Crystie said and turned her head up to the sky and began to think. "Hmm, what about Sky?" Crystie asked, the dragon shook her head in disagreement. "Okay...that's a no on Sky" She kept thinking. "How about Ocean?", the dragon gave the young viking a look which suggested that she didn't like that suggestion. "yeah I'm not fond of that one either" she said as she looked away from the dragons gaze. After a bit of thinking Crystie got one. "How about Storm?" She suggested. The dragon squawked in excitement. Crystie chuckled "Nice to meet you Storm".

The young viking stood up and looked up at the sky; the sun was starting to set. "We need to get out of here" Crystie thought; she didn't want to be here when night came. The young viking knelt beside Storm, "Hey" Crystie said in a soft voice. Storm squawked a greeting. Crystie stroked the blue dragon's snout and Storm purred. Crystie chuckled but shook her head; she was getting off track. "Are you able to stand, we need to get out of here" She asked. Storm nodded and slowly stood up but wobbled a bit. Crystie rushed to help but Storm shook her head and stood up straight.

Crystie smiled and patted Storm on her side and walked around the area. Finding a way out of here was going to be harder than she thought. The young viking walked around the area until she noticed something; the walls had small ledges on them, not too big but large enough for at least Crystie to climb up the wall. These ledges were all over the walls and varied in height; if Crystie guessed the right path, she could find the way out. That left the question of how she got Storm out of here since she couldn't fly or climb the walls properly. An idea came to mind when she noticed some thick vines growing down from a few of the ledges. The young viking ran over to where some the vines were growing and started pulling on them; her strength however not enough to pull them down. "Storm, a little help here please" Crystie yelled at the blue dragon; Storm ran over to her small friend and helped pull the vines down. After pulling all the vines down Crystie began tying them together into a rope of some sort. She then wrapped one end of the rope around her waist and made a tight knot; she then did the same thing to Storm. "Alright so here's what's going to happen; I'm going to climb the wall using the ledges and once I've gotten to the top I'll wrap the rope around a tree and that's when you start climbing up the wall while I try to pull you up, sound good?" Crystie explained. Storm nodded in agreement.

The young viking took a deep breath and began to climb the wall. The stone felt rough and sharp in Crystie's hands, but she ignored it and kept going. The wind blew harshly and swiftly, trying to knock the young viking off the wall; but Crystie held on with all her strength and kept moving forward; she was almost at the top.

Eventually, Crystie made it to the top, pulling herself onto the soft grass. She lay on her back for a few moments, panting heavily, trying to get some air. Shaking her head, Crystie stood up and looked around. She noticed a tall, sturdy looking tree sitting near the entrance to the hole. The young viking walked over to the tree and began wrapping the vines around the tree, trying to make sure it had a tight hold on the vines. After making sure the vines were sturdy Crystie walked over to the entrance to the hole and looked down. "ALRIGHT, I'VE TIED THE VINES TO A TREE, TRY CLIMBING UPNOW" Crystie yelled down to her friend in the hole. There seemed to be a roar in reply but Crystie couldn't quite tell. Quickly, Crystie sped over to where the vines where and started to pull on them. Even though she was sure she wasn't doing much to help pull up the vines, she was going to help anyways. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soon enough, Storm had made it to the top and now her and Crystie were laying on the floor panting heavily. The young viking raised her arms in victory "WE DID IT" she yelled before flopping back into the soft grass. The sun was starting to set and dark clouds were starting to gather. Crystie stood up and streched; she then helped Storm get up as well. "I think its time we find somewhere to spend the night" Crystie suggested; Storm squawked an agreement. A sudden roar echoed around the area which made the two friends turn around. The Deadly Nadder flock was looking down at them, hatred in their eyes. This wasn't going to end well. Crystie spotted the lead nadder glaring down at her, she had a bad feeling about this.

Storm bristled with anger, stepping infront of Crystie and glaring up at the leader. The leader gave a commanding flick of her tail and the flock began speeding towards Crystie and Storm. The young viking felt Storm wrap her tail around her waist and lift her onto the dragon's back. Storm immediately turned around and began sprinting in the other direction; Crystie managed to adjust herself and hang onto the speeding nadder.

The forest was a blur as Storm and Crystie sped through it, attempting to dodge trees that got in the way and spines that were being fired at them. Crystie turned her head to see the Nadder flock close behind them.

The sky had turned dark and thunder could be heard. Suddenly a tree burst into flames infront of them; "DODGE IT" Crystie yelled which made Storm leap to the side and keep running. Crystie's heart was beating franticly; this is not what she was expecting to do today.

The angry flock behind them were setting fire to trees left and right, trying to block off Crystie and Storms path. A line of trees was set on fire blocking their escape route. Storm attempted to go around the barricade, but she was immediately shot in the leg by some of nadder spines and collapsed onto the ground which caused Crystie to fall off the Nadder and onto the floor. The young viking lifted her head to see the nadder flock had formed a line blocking off any form of escape. The lead nadder stepped to the front of the crowd with her tail raised, spines out, a look of murder in her eyes.

Storm tried to stand but ended up falling to the floor in pain. "STORM" Crystie yelled. The leader slammed Storm's head into the ground and was about shoot fire at her when she was suddenly hit on the head by Crystie's bag. The lead nadder turned to Crystie who had an immediate feeling of regret; she shouldn't have done that. Crystie was then suddenly and violently slammed into a tree with the lead nadder holding Crystie by her neck. The young viking let out a gasp of pain. She looked into the lead nadders eyes, they had murder in them; she was dead. Fear and alarm flooded the whole of Crystie's body as she tried to wriggle out of the nadders grip but couldn't and the lead nadder began firing up an attack. "This is it; this is my end. I'm sorry Storm" Crystie thought as tears streamed down her face, "please forgive me".

The leader was about to fire her attack, but she was suddenly shot in the back which made her drop Crystie out of her grip; Crystie coughed, gasping for air. She painfully turned her head to see Storm standing, spines out and with a look of anger in her eyes; the spines had been taken out of the dragons leg. The leader turned to face Storm and gave her a death glare. Storm seemed unaffected and kept firing spines at the leader which she was deflecting with her wings. The lead Nadder gave a commanding flick of her tail and the rest of the flock began charging at Storm. The blue dragon kept violently flicking spines at the other nadders which made some of them stop in their tracks and some of them to retreat.

The lead nadder seemed angry at some of her flock members retreating so she began charging at Storm. Storm charged a bright looking fire and as soon as she shot the white fire, a lightning bolt lit up the whole area in a blinding white light. Crystie quickly shielded her eyes from the blinding light as it was painful to look at. When she opened her eyes, she saw the right side of the lead nadders face had been scorched; everyone seemed to be in shock. Rain started trickling down before becoming a heavy down pour. The lead nadder fell on one knee and two nadders from the flock came rushing to her side, supporting the nadder and leading them away from the area, with the rest of the flock following.

Crystie gave a sigh of relief that it was allover, but when she tried to push herself upright, she felt agonizing pain flood her entire body which made her collapse. She yelled out in pain which caught Storm's attention and the dragon immediately rushed over to her injured friend. Storm nuzzled against her friend, trying to make sure she was ok. The young viking tried to get up again but she couldn't and suddenly she started to feel light-headed. She tried to keep herself awake but her eyes rolled into the back of her head and then everything went black.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Everything was dark, no light to be seen, simply nothing. Crystie tried to move around or speak but nothing came out of her mouth and she was frozen in place. She frantically looked around but suddenly stopped when she saw a figure a few feet away from her. The figure had their back to Crystie so she couldn't see their face but they had short scruffy brown hair that went down to their neck, a red cape that looked to be made out of scales and some dark blue boots. Crystie stared in confusion, who was this figure, why were they here and how did she know them. The figure then started to walk away and Crystie tried to go after them or call out to them, but she couldn't. The floor beneath Crystie seemed to give way and she began to fall into a dark abyss._

The young viking suddenly jolted awake and franticly looked around. She was leaning against a tree with a small fire burning infront of her; the rain had stopped. She spotted Storm sitting next to the fire staring up at the sky. Crystie tried to get up from her spot but it hurt too much to get up and she ended up grunting in pain. Storm must have heard Crystie attempt to get up because she immediately turned her attention towards her friend and ran over to her, nuzzling her. "Okay, okay, you can stop that now, it's hurting my chest" Crystie said. Storm stopped and took a step back. She seemed to get an idea and ran off into the trees. The young viking wondered where she had gone but before long, she returned with something hanging from her mouth, it was her bag. The blue dragon walked over to Crystie and carefully dropped the brown bag into the young vikings lap. "Thanks Storm" Crystie said as she scratched the blue nadders chin. Storm waddled next to Crystie and lay down to her and closed her eyes.

The young viking smiled and looked up at the stars; they shined brightly and beautifully in the vast night sky. She sighed, she'd had a long and exhausting day. Crystie looked down at her bag and got an idea. She grabbed the bag and opened it; she pulled out the empty book and one of the pencils. Putting the bag to one side, Crystie opened the book to its first page, grabbed the pencil and began to write.

**And that's what happened; I know it was a very insane day, but here I am, still alive, writing this while I stare up at the beautiful night sky. Luckily, I have Storm with me, she's a good dragon and I hope we'll always be friends.**

**Well, I'm going to finish writing this so I can get some well-deserved rest.**

**I hope to talk to you again sometime soon**

**This is Crystie, signing out.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it
> 
> Now, before I wrap up, I want to go over a few things
> 
> 1\. Since I have already posted chapters on fanfiction.net and Wattpad, i will be moving those over then i will post every new chapter on each site at the same time
> 
> 2\. There is no concrete uploading schedule but I try to get a chapter out at least once a month
> 
> 3\. Some future chapters might become a bit violent at times so I will put a slight warning before the chapter to warn people
> 
> 4\. I want to give a shoutout to all my friends that helped me get to this point. Thanks guys
> 
> 5\. Feel free to leave a comment, I always appreciate feedback and knowing that people like my story
> 
> Anyway, that's all from me for today
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	2. Home is where the heart is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back to the story
> 
> Not much to say here, just wanted to say hello
> 
> Anyway, lets get into the chapter...

**Dear Diary...**

**I miss my Home, wherever that is. I may miss it, but I've learnt that home isn't a place, it's a feeling...**

The forest was calm and peaceful in the morning. Leaves fell from the tree and scattered themselves across the forest floor. The early morning sunlight filtered through the trees and lit up the area in a warm comforting light. The peace was quickly broken when Crystie and Storm burst through a bush at full speed and ran like their lives depended on it; no sooner than 3 seconds later, a large pack of wild boars burst through the same bush and chased after the two sprinting friends. Storm wacked Crystie in the head with her tail while they were running. The young viking glared at Storm with a look of annoyance. "oh, so this is my fault is it?" Crystie asked. Storm just gave a look that seemed to say, 'are you serious?'. Crystie sighed; "ok, fine, I was the one that provoked them, but how I suppose to know they were there?". Storm just shook her head and kept running.

The young viking saw a low but sturdy looking branch up ahead. "Quick, climb onto that branch" Crystie yelled at Storm while pointing at the branch in the distant. Storm nodded and ran ahead and leapt onto the branch, it barely holding her wait. The blue dragon let down her spiky tail for Crystie to climb onto. The young viking sped towards the lowered tail and grabbed onto it. Storm raised her tail with Crystie attached and let the boar pack pass through underneath. Crystie could feel the ground beneath them shake. Soon, all the boar pack had passed underneath and had disappeared into the undergrowth.

Crystie and Storm let out a collective sigh of relief and the blue dragon lowered her tail to the ground. Crystie hopped off Storm's tail then collapsed onto her back, panting. Storm hopped onto the ground next to Crystie, slightly nudging her friend to make sure she's alright; Crystie just sighed. "I'm fine, just a bit, out of, breath" the young viking gasped in between breaths. "I just, wasn't expecting to have to run from a pack of wild boars, first thing in the morning" she continued. "at least I got some exercise" Crystie chuckled. Storm just seemed to laugh at Crystie who gave her friend a glare. Storm helped her friend stand up before the two friends started walking into the forest.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Crystie and Storm wondered through the burnt forest, stepping on fallen branches and half burnt leaves. The young viking put her hand on one of the charred trees and sighed. "That fire really did a number on this place" Crystie commented and she could hear Storm squawk an agreement. The fire, luckily, hadn't burn a large section forest but it had still destroyed quite a bit of it; This forest, which had once been home to a plethora of creatures, big and small, had now become ash, soot and dust. Crystie gave a deep sigh and looked up towards the pale blue sky. Her mind wandered about her own home; what was it like, did she enjoy living there, why had she left and would she ever find her way back there.

A loud yowl echoed throughout the area and broke Crystie out of her thoughts. She looked around the ash covered area, looking for the source of the sound. "Did you hear that?" the young viking asked while still looking around. She then heard the yowl again and kept franticly looking around. It was then when Crystie noticed that Storm had disappeared. "STORM" Crystie shouted, trying to get the blue dragon's attention. She heard Storm squawk in the distance and began running towards the call.

The young viking found her dragon friend looking up one of the burnt trees. "did you find something?" Crystie asked; Storm nodded. She followed Storm's line of sight that landed high up on a branch in the tree where she could see something moving. She squinted to try and focus on what was moving on the branch. Crystie then caught sight of what it was. It was a cat; the cat was a walnut brown with white paws and belly with dark brown markings across its back and it had emerald green eyes, it looked to be a male and was quite fluffy. The poor cat looked terrified.

"it must have climbed up that tree to escape the fire yesterday" Crystie commented and Storm squawked in agreement. The young viking then began thinking of ways to try and get the cat down. She then got an idea and turned to Storm. "alright, I've got an idea, well, sort of an idea but an idea nevertheless" Crystie proclaimed. Storm looks over at her, interested in what she had to say. "right, so here's the plan. I'll stand on your head and you'll lift me up as high as you can, and I'll try and grab the cat and bring it down" the young viking declared. Storm gave her a disapproving look; Crystie glared back. "it's the best one I could come up with, alright?" Crystie admitted. Storm just shook her head and sighed while lowering her head. The young viking stepped onto the dragon's head and Storm lifted her head as high as she could. Crystie stood up as high as she could, attempting to grab the branch. The cat hissed when Crystie attempted to touch it. "hey, hey, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you" the young viking said in a hushed voice. The cat seemed to relax a bit but was still a bit skittish.

Crystie tried to grab the branch but she was not quite high enough. She felt herself start to wobble and start to fall over. In a desperate attempt, she jumped and hung onto the branch. The young viking pulled herself onto the branch and hugged it, desperately trying to stay on the branch. "Oookay, that didn't go as planned, but I can work with this, I can work with this" Crystie muttered to herself as she slowly sat up on the branch. She saw the cat further up the branch, shaking and hissing at the young viking. Crystie slowly reached her hand out towards the shaking feline. "shh, there's no reason to be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you" she said in a whisper to try and relax the vibrating feline. The brown cat stopped hissing slowly crept towards the young viking and rubbed against her hand. Crystie stroked the fluffy cat and they started purring happily. "there, there, there's nothing to be afraid of" she said as she stroked the brown cat.

Suddenly, Crystie felt the branch beneath them start to snap; "oh crud" she muttered under her breath. The cat got startled and clung to the young viking's chest. Crystie held the startled cat with her right hand while she stood up and balanced herself with her other hand. "STORM" Crystie yelled to try and get the dragon's attention. She saw Storm squawk to indicate she could see them; she had a slightly worried look on her face. Crystie looked around, trying to figure out of there was any way to get safely down; She concluded there was no other way down other than to jump. She took a deep breath; "alright, here goes nothing" she proclaimed. The young viking crouched and then jumped off the branch as soon as it snapped. Crystie hugged the cat close to her chest and closed her eyes.

Luckily, they landed safely on Storm's back. Crystie sat up, took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh. She could feel the poor cat's heart beating franticly, it was probably terrified from the jump. The young viking started stroking the cat's fur to try calm him down. It seemed to be working as the cat's heartbeat slowed down and their breathing went to an even pace. The cat seemed to relax. Crystie got off Storm and slowly put the cat down on the floor. The cat shook its pelt before scampering off and into the distance. Crystie watched them go; she wished they had stayed but she didn't want to force them. Storm nudged the young viking which brought her out of her thoughts. "yeah, yeah, I know, lets get going" Crystie said while she and Storm starting to walk across the charred area. Crystie turned her head back in the direction where the cat had gone but sadly, she couldn't see the small brown cat. She just sighed, turned around and continued walking towards the forest.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hours passed and Crystie and Storm were still walking through the forest; they had been searching for a place where they could have a more permanent home, but sadly hadn't found anything yet. Crystie felt a drop of rain drip down her face. She looked up at the sky to only see more rain drops slowly fall before it quickly became a heavy downpour. "oh great" the young viking muttered. Crystie and Storm broke into a run, trying to escape the sudden downpour. The two friends kept running through the mud and rain.

Eventually, they came upon a small cave and quickly ducked into it. They both collapsed on the floor, out of breath, but happy to be out of the rain. "I think" Crystie paused for a breath "we'll stay here for the night". Storm squawked in agreement between breaths. There was a small moment of silence where the only thing that could be heard was the quick panting of breaths. The silence was broken when a sharp and sudden snapping sound echoed throughout the cave. Crystie and Storm shoot up in alert. They looked at each other in surprise before slowly turning their heads, looking into the depths of the cave. A dozen red eyes stared at them through the darkness of the cave; a low grunt echoed throughout the area. "oh thor" Crystie muttered under her breath.

A squeal echoed throughout the cave and a vicious pack of boars began storming towards the two friends. Crystie and Storm quickly scrambled out of the cave and back into the pouring rain. The boar pack kept chasing them through the mud and rain. Crystie got a sense of Déjà vu. The ground was quite slippery due to the excess amount of rain but luckily, neither Crystie nor Storm fell over. They were running by the side of the mountain.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake which made everyone stop suddenly. Crystie looked up to see a landslide of mud and rocks coming towards them. "LANDSLIDE" Crystie yelled and run to push Storm out of the way of the landslide. They both fell to the ground. Crystie opened her eyes and pushed her arms up to steady herself. The landslide had missed them by just a few inches. Crystie let out a sigh of relief and stood up. She went over to Storm to make sure she was ok. Storm squawked in reassurance that she was ok.

As Crystie was helping Storm stand up, she heard a loud meow. The young viking looked around to see the brown cat standing on top of the landslide. "oh hey, its you" Crystie said as the cat came bounding down the rocks. The cat stopped infront of Crystie and meowed. Crystie crouched down. "what are you doing here?" the young viking asked as she scratched the cats left ear; The cat started purring happily. Crystie chuckled and stood up. The cat rubbed himself against Crystie's legs and purred while looking up at her. "you wanna come with us?" the young viking asked. The cat jumped onto Crystie's back and onto her shoulders and gave her a happy meow. Crystie smiled scratched the cat's chin which he seemed to enjoy a lot; "I guess that's a yes" Crystie said. Storm seemed to chuckle as the cat leapt from Crystie's shoulders and onto Storm's head. Crystie flipped her hood up and began running, Storm and the cat quickly followed behind her.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Crystie, Storm and the cat, now named Cypress, were running through the rain which had gotten much heavier than earlier. It was now night-time, but it was hard to tell due to the heavy rain. They were running near the side of the mountain and had been running for quite a while. Crystie noticed a large hole in the side of the mountain. "Quick, in there" Crystie yelled and the trio ran into the gap and stopped for breath. Crystie leaned against the wall and sat down, she was panting for air. Cypress walked next to Crystie and shook himself dry which sent raindrops at Crystie, soaking her. "Thanks for that" she muttered under her breath while crossing her arms. Storm, then decided to be helpful and shook herself dry which also sent raindrops coating Crystie. "Not helping" Crystie mumbled while Storm seemed to hide a laugh. The young viking just glared at her dragon friend.

Crystie got up and streched. It was then when she noticed that Cypress had disappeared. Crystie looked around before noticing a light at the end of the tunnel they were in. She looked at Storm who just shrugged. The young viking started making her way down the tunnel with Storm in tow. The tunnel was quite large and had surprisingly smooth walls. They eventually came out of the tunnel and came upon a large area inside the mountain. The area was like a rather large cave except it had a large hole in the middle that let the beautiful night sky shine through. It had stopped raining. There was a small lake in the middle of the area under the hole in the ceiling. There were quite a few trees dotted around grassy area. The walls were straight and smooth at the bottom before they curved to make a dome over the entire area.

Crystie was amazed at what she saw. This place would be perfect to make as a home. Storm also seemed amazed as she kept looking around the area in awe. The two friends walked around the area, taking in the amazing sights. After a few minutes, they came across a small gap in the wall, almost cave like. Crystie poked her head through the entrance and looked around the small area; Cypress was curled up on the floor of the area, sleeping. Crystie gave a small smile at the sleeping cat.

By this point, Storm had wandered over and also poked her head through the entrance. The blue dragon entered the small area and lay down around Cypress, setting her head down against the stone floor and drifted off to sleep. Crystie felt a yawn escape her throat and she decided it was time for her to get some sleep as well. The young viking walked over to Storm and sat down, leaning against the dragon's back. She removed her bag from her neck and put it next to her. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Her eyes suddenly shot open when she felt something nudge against her. Crystie looked to her side only to see Cypress snuggling up against her, still asleep. The young viking just smiled and stroked the brown cat's soft head. Crystie closed her eyes and let herself drift off into a nice deep sleep.

**I definitely miss my home, wherever that may be. Hopefully one day I'll fine it and reunite with my family. But for now, I'm happy with the family I have with me and that's why, no matter where we go or what we do, we'll always have a home in each other.**

**I hope we talk to each other soon**

**This is Crystie, signing out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter
> 
> As always, feel free to leave a comment, I always appreciate the feedback
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	3. Big Dragon, Little Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back to the story
> 
> Not much to say this time around
> 
> Anyway, onto the chapter...

**Dear Diary...**

**I may not remember my old family, if I even had one. But I do know that my new family will always be there for me...**

A cold gust of wind blew around the area in the early hours of the morning. It swirled around the lake and into the small cave the group was sleeping in. Crystie slowly opened her eyes and groggily sat up. She yawned and looked around. Storm was still sleeping behind her and Cypress will still curled up next to her. Not wanting to wake either of them up, the young viking slowly stood up and made her way to the entrance of the cave.

She kept yawning, it was personally too early for her and the sun had barely risen. The young viking walked over to the lake and knelt down, splashing some water on her face in an attempt to wake herself up a bit more. A shadow glided over the lake which made Crystie look up in curiosity to see where it had come from. The young viking shrugged it off, it must have been a passing bird. More shadows were flying around the lake which made Crystie look up again but more specifically at the gap in the ceiling of the area.

Several large shadows were circling the gap in the ceiling. One of the shadows descended towards the young viking and landed infront of her. It was the lead nadder from the other day, Crystie had nicknamed her 'Spinefang'. Crystie felt her blood run cold when Spinefang stared down at her. She hadn't forgotten what happened a few days ago and the sight of Spinefang sent a slight shiver down the young viking's spine.

Spinefang lowered her spines and took a step back, which shocked Crystie. She guessed that she wasn't here to start a fight even though it was clear that the older dragon still hated the young viking. Crystie's thoughts were broken by Storm's loud roar coming from behind her. Storm then jumped infront of her, putting herself between the young viking and the lead nadder, spines raised. She looked quite aggressive towards the older dragon. Crystie ran infront of Storm, putting herself between the two. She turned to Storm. "Stop, she's not here to harm us" the young viking told her dragon friend. Storm lowered her spines but sent a mixed look of curiosity and hatred towards Spinefang who just had a smug look on her face. "she's not doing any harm, so try and play nice" Crystie said, trying to defuse the tension. Storm looked like she was going to argue but she just sighed.

Spinefang then walked a few steps away from the duo and let out a roar. The rest of the nadder flock began descending and landed all over the area; The lead nadder flew off to go talk to a group of nadders. Storm nudged the young viking's side and gave her a look that said, 'do they have to be here?'. Crystie smiled, "It'll be fine, I doubt they'll be here very long" she reassured her friend. The blue dragon just rolled her eyes and started walking away. "don't you roll your eyes at me, they're your family" the young viking yelled after her friend. Storm just ignored her and went back inside the cave.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours had passed and Crystie was now writing in her diary about the previous day's events; Cypress was curled up asleep next to her. She suddenly felt someone nudge her diary which made her stop writing and lower her diary. She saw a small nadder looking up at her, it couldn't have been more than a month old; the nadder was a black colour with white spikes and underbelly, its wings were also a bright red and it had an underbite rather than an overbite which made Crystie concluded that this nadder was a male. The small nadder was looking up with interest and a big smile.

Crystie smiled. "Hello, and who are you little fella?" she said while stroking the tiny nadder's head. The nadder gave a high-pitched squawk as the young viking kept stroking. Storm wondered over and spotted the small nadder. The black nadder perked up at the sight of the older nadder, he immediately ran over to her and nuzzled against Storm's legs. The blue nadder leaned down and licked the younger nadder's face. "aww, that's adorable" Crystie said while chuckling at the smaller nadder who had a disgusted look on his face. He glared up at Storm who just chuckled at the tiny nadder. "you seem to know him well, is he like your little brother or something?" Crystie questioned. Storm nodded and nuzzled her little brother.

Crystie sighed and looked at the ground. She missed her family if she ever had one. The young viking wondered if they missed her; hopefully one day she would meet them again. The small nadder came up to Crystie and nuzzled against her legs. She scratched his chin. "I think we should give him a name, don't you?" the young viking asked while looking up at her dragon friend. Storm started squawking like she was talking. Crystie just stared at her. "uh Storm, you know I don't speak dragon, right?" Crystie said with a puzzled look on her face. Storm quieted down after that and lay down behind Crystie.

The small nadder was still looking up at the young viking. She turned to the small dragon. "how about Redwing, do you like that?" Crystie said to the black dragon. Redwing nodded and nuzzled against the young viking's legs. A loud roar brought Crystie's attention elsewhere. She looked over to see Spinefang glaring at her from across the area. Redwing gave one last look at Crystie then flew over to the lead nadder. The young viking had a thought. "if Spinefang is Redwings mother, then does that mean she's your mother as well?" Crystie asked Storm. Storm nodded even though she didn't look happy about it. "huh" was all Crystie said in response. She looked back over at the lead nadder. "wonder what she was angry about?" the young viking wondered before going back to writing.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was midafternoon when Crystie, Storm and Cypress were out exploring the forest, looking for something to eat since they didn't really any food in the small area. And besides, the nadder flock was currently occupying most of the area so it'd be hard to find anything anyway. They had been wondering around a bit, trying to find something of worth. Eventually, they came upon a dozen apple trees, all the apples were bright red and ripe looking.

Crystie sighed in relief, "finally, we found something" she exclaimed. The young viking began climbing a tree while Storm and Cypress began trying to get apples down from the branches. Crystie shook a branch and a couple of apples fell to the ground; Storm was shaking another tree while Cypress was climbing a tree and shaking a branch with his weight. Crystie climbed down the tree and put the apples that were on the floor into her empty bag. She sighed, "we're gonna be here forever at this rate" the young viking thought to herself.

Crystie then heard a whooshing sound and a few moments later, an apple fell on her head and into the ground. "Ow" the young viking said while rubbing her head and staring at the apple at her feet. Crystie looked up at where the apple had come from. She saw a small black and white nadder spine lodged in the branch. "where did that come from?" Crystie muttered under her breath.

Another spine was suddenly shot from somewhere and another apple fell. Redwing shot out from the trees and caught the apples in his talons. He hovered infront of Storm, squawking happily. Storm squawked happily to see her little brother. "hey little Redwing" Crystie said as the small nadder flew infront of her face. He gave a happy squawk and dropped the apple he had in the young viking's hands. "you wanna help us out little buddy?" Crystie asked as she scratched Redwing's chin. The black dragon nodded and shot more apples out of the trees. Crystie turned to Storm and gave her a gesture to do the same thing her brother did. Storm nodded and shot some apples straight out of the trees. Crystie bent down and began picking up the fallen apples.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After a few hours and a couple of trips to pick all the apples, put them in Crystie's bag and walk back to their area. Once they had gotten back to the area, they had dug a small hole near the lake, put the apples in the hole and filled it up with water to try and keep the apples as fresh as possible.

A lot of the nadder flock had left to most likely do some hunting while the more elderly nadders and the younger one's stayed behind. Crystie was sitting down, leaning against a tree and was sketching in her diary; Storm was laying down next to Crystie and Cypress and Redwing were playing together. For the short amount of time the two had known each other, Cypress and Redwing got along really well and had become fast friends.

A loud and sudden roar echoed throughout the area. Crystie looked up and saw the rest of the nadder flock returning from their hunt. Redwing stopped playing with Cypress and went to go get food with the rest of the flock. Cypress had a sad look on his face and wondered over to Crystie. Crystie put her book down and stroked the sad cat's head, "don't be sad, I'm sure he'll want to play with you later" the young viking assured her small friend. Cypress smiled and soon started chasing after a butterfly. Crystie chuckled and went back to sketching.

After a while, the nadder flock had finished their food and Redwing came flying over to Cypress. Cypress got an excited look on his face and began chasing his dragon friend. Spinefang looked up from her spot, trying to find where Redwing went. Her sight landed on Redwing and Cypress chasing each other around.

She immediately flew over and swatted the brown cat into the lake while Cypress let out a yowl of pain. Crystie's head snapped up and she immediately dropped her book and ran over to the lake. She jumped in and grabbed the small cat who was struggling to breath. She pulled both of them to shore and began panting heavily. Cypress was in shock so Crystie pulls the small cat closer and began stroking his back in an attempt to calm him down. The young viking could feel Cypress heart beating franticly, "shh, it's okay, it's okay" she whispered.

Crystie looked over at Spinefang who was roaring at Redwing; Redwing was cowering underneath Storm who was roaring back at her mother. The young viking rushed over and put herself between the two. "leave him alone" she yelled at the lead dragon. Spinefang looked insulted and raised her spines in anger; Storm was about to intervene but Crystie looked back at her and shook her head; Storm understood and backed away. The young viking turned her attention back to the angry nadder.

"you don't need to yell at him, he was just playing" Crystie scolded the older dragon. Spinefang scoffed at the young vikings answer. "you're his mother, you should try acting like it more often" Crystie exclaimed. Spinefang looked like she was about to explode with anger and put her snout directly in the young viking's face. Crystie could feel the lead dragon's breath blowing on her face. Crystie looked Spinefang directly in the eyes with determination, "your threats don't mean anything to me, not anymore" Crystie declared.

They stared at each other for a bit before Spinefang backed off, still having an angry look on her face. She turned away and gave a loud roar that echoed throughout the area; All the nadder began flying into the air, they're were getting ready to leave. Spinefang turned to Redwing who was still cowering underneath Storm; the lead nadder gave a flick of her tail, indicating to the small dragon that they were leaving. Redwing began walking towards his mother but stopped and looked back at Crystie, Storm and Cypress. Redwing kept looking between the two, he looked like he was torn on who to go with.

Eventually, Redwing turned back towards the trio and walked back to them. He went over to Cypress and began nuzzling against him who nuzzled back; Crystie smiled at the two friends. The young viking looked over at Spinefang; she was expecting her to be angry, but she just looked saddened. The lead nadder just turned away and flew off with the rest of her flock.

Crystie let out a deep breath that she didn't even know she was holding. She was glad the flock was finally gone; they were nice, but they were a bit problematic. The young looked around the now empty area, there was left over pieces of prey and bones scattered around the area. "I guess it's time to start cleaning this up then" Crystie sighed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group had spent a few hours cleaning the area, they had dug a hole and put all the discarded bones and food in the hole and filled it in to let the food decompose.

It was now sunset, and everyone was relaxing from the crazy day they had. Cypress and Redwing where now sleeping next to each other in the cave while Crystie and Storm were outside; Crystie was resting against a tree while Storm was laying next to Crystie. Crystie stared up at the vibrant orange sky that was visible through the gap. She sighed and closed her eyes; the day's events had made her think about her own mysterious family. Did she have a mother, father, or even any friends back where she came from. She let her mind wonder about the possibilities that could be.

Storm must have been able to sense the young vikings sadness as she nuzzled against Crystie's side to get her attention. Crystie looked over at her worried friend and hugged her; "I'm fine, I have you guys" she reassured Storm. Storm put her head on Crystie's lap and together the two watched the sunset.

**Seeing Storm and Redwing really made me think which led to more questions. Who were my family, did they make me leave, did someone take me or did I leave on my own accord. The more I think about it the more confused I become; luckily, I have Storm, Cypress and Redwing with me, my new family. They're the ones who can hopefully, one day, reunite me with my old family.**

**I hope we talk to each other soon.**

**This is Crystie, signing out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter
> 
> As always, feel free to leave feedback, I always appreciate feedback
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	4. Trio of Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back to the story
> 
> Not much to say this time around
> 
> Anyway, lets move onto the chapter...

**Dear Diary...**

**I keep getting reminders of my past, small little things that feel so familiar yet are so new at the same time. Maybe these things will one day make sense, but I guess I'll have to wait and see...**

Crystie was halfway up one of the trees near the lake, she was half hugging the tree and half trying to break off one of the smaller branches; she was struggling however and kept tugging violently at the branch. Storm was at the base of the tree, looking up at her friend with a slightly worried look on her face. The blue dragon squawked as if to ask if for any help. "I can do this by myself, I don't need any help" Crystie called down to her dragon friend as she kept tugging on the branch. The branch suddenly snapped and Crystie fell backwards, luckily landing on Storm's back. The young viking slid onto the ground and brushed herself off. She looked over at Storm who had a 'I told you so' look on her face. "Okay, maybe I did need some help" Crystie admitted while looking away sheepishly. She could hear Storm snickering behind her, but she just shook her head turned towards the lake. They were starting to try and build a proper home; the cave was nice but wasn't exactly a great home and Crystie wanted a place a little bigger; But getting the materials and actually building it was easier said than done.

The young viking sighed and turned her attention to the two young creatures playing on the shores of the lake. Cypress and Redwing were chasing each other along the sand, play fighting with each other and overall having a good time. Crystie gave a warm smile while looking at the two. The young cat and dragon had become quite close friends in the few days they had known each other, becoming best friends and never leaving each other's side. It warmed the young vikings heart to see them so happy together.

Crystie let out a sigh. She walked over to the cave and grabbed her bag, flung it over her shoulder and walked back to the two small friends. The young viking picked up the two friends who seemed surprised to be picked up. "Okay you two, that's enough playing" she said, looking down at the two. Cypress and Redwing let out a sad sigh but nodded in understanding. The young viking walked over to the cave and placed the two friends inside. "Now, you two stay here. Me and Storm are going to go explore and we'll be back in a few hours" Crystie said while Cypress let out a yawn. Cypress curled up with Redwing lying next to him, both of them falling asleep. "Aww" the young viking said with a smile and then headed out of the cave.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Orange leaves scattered the forest trees and the forest floor; Crystie was riding Storm through the orange wonderland, taking in the beautiful scene before her. They had been looking for some materials to use but sadly hadn't found anything of use yet, although this gave them an opportunity to explore the island anyway.

Crystie sighed, it was going to take a while to find anything since Storm's shoulder hadn't fully healed yet which cancelled out the option of flight. A sharp snapping sound echoed throughout the area that caught Crystie's and Storm's attention; they looked at each other before heading in the direction of the sound. They walked through the forest undergrowth and came upon a clearing. Crystie hoped off of Storm and the two began searching around for the source of the sound. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least not yet. The young viking then heard a rustling noise coming from a large nearby bush; she crouched down near the bush and peered inside. A pair of large, vibrant yellow eyes stared into Crystie's; she gave a small wave, but the pair of eyes only narrowed in anger and disappeared into the depths of the bush. Crystie just shrugged.

A shadow then rose from the bush and loomed over the young viking. Crystie stood up and started backing away from the unknown creature. It looked like a dragon. The dragon stepped infront of the bush and stood tall; It was a brownish-orange colour with a pale-yellow underbelly and dark brown markings going down its back. It had two pairs of long slightly twisted horns, two large clawed wings, long sharp claws on its feet, sharp spines going down its snake like neck, back and forming into frills onto its snake like tail; it had a long, broad snout with a curved horn on the end with vibrant yellow eyes. The large dragon spread its wings and roared loudly, glaring at the young viking. Crystie was paralyzed with fear; she knew this dragon, or at least the type of dragon. Its piercing yellow send shivers down to Crystie's soul and she had no clue why.

While she was panicking, she hadn't noticed Storm come behind her and was angrily growling at the larger dragon. The two dragons were intensely growling at each other. Crystie tried backing away but she heard more growling coming from behind her. She spun around to see another dragon standing a few feet away from her. This dragon was a dark brown with a pale brown underbelly with snow white bumps covering its whole body and vibrant yellow eyes; it was a quite round dragon, with a clubbed tail, four small legs, small wings on its back, a blunt horn on the tip of its snout and two large thick teeth sticking out of its lower jaw.

Crystie backed up until she felt herself back up against Storm who was still growling at the other dragon. The stumpy dragon started slowly walking towards her until both their attention's where directed to another dragon entering the area. This dragon was different than the other dragons as it had two heads instead of ones. The dragon was black with a white underbelly and white markings. Each head had a curved horn on its snout, two straight pointy horns, four stumpy legs, a pair of medium sized wings, flaps going along its necks, body and tails and a split tail.

The large dragon lunged at Storm and the two dragons started wrestling with each other; the two other dragons also started biting at each other. Crystie dived out of the way and pressed herself against a tree, trying to not get involved with the battle. She turned her head to try and see what was going on. The large dragon was hovering infront of Storm, it seemed to be taunting the blue dragon for her ability to not fly. Storm let out an angry growl and fired a stream of fire at the larger dragon. The larger dragon brushed off the attack and lunged towards the blue dragon. As if she was anticipating the move, Storm went flat on her back and kicked the larger dragon in the stomach; she sent the larger dragon into the two other dragons who were still fighting. The trio of dragons then began fighting each other which gave Storm the chance to escape. Storm ran over to Crystie, who was still hiding behind a tree. Crystie ran to her friend and the two started walking away from the battle site.

A river was nearby so the two friends stopped there, washing the small cuts, bruises and scrapes they had gotten; The two then sat on the bank of the river. Crystie started to think, she'd definitely seen those types of dragons before, especially the larger one. She reached for her bag and fished out her book of dragons. She began flipping through the pages, looking for the dragons she saw.

She landed on the first page she was looking for and read the page; The stumpy dragon was called a 'Gronckle' and it was part of the 'Boulder Class'. The gronckle was known as one of the toughest dragons in the world, flying like a hummingbird and eating rocks. She then moved onto the next dragon she'd seen. The two headed dragon she'd seen was called a 'Hideous Zippleback' and it was part of the 'Mystery Class'. The Hideous Zippleback was known for its two heads, its two distinct personalities and the ability to create large explosions. The young viking then moved onto the final dragon she'd seen. The larger dragon was a 'Monstrous Nightmare' and it was part of the 'Stoker Class'. The Monstrous Nightmare was known for being an aggressive and proud dragon and having the ability to engulf itself in flames. And from what Crystie could tell, the three dragons were all males.

The young viking closed the book and put it back in her bag. She looked up at the sky, there were a few clouds, but it was overall a nice sunny day. A sigh escaped her mouth as she stared into the sky; she really wanted to help those dragons in a way that wouldn't result in another fight and a way that everyone could be happy. An idea then popped into her mind.

Crystie stood up and turned to Storm. "Alright, I've got a plan involving those dragons" she exclaimed. Storm turned to her in curiosity. Crystie continued "I'm going to go and befriend each of those dragons". Storm stood up and let out an angry and worried growl. "Oh, come on, it won't be that bad" the young viking declared. The blue dragon gave her friend a look that clearly indicated she disagreed. Crystie stared back at her friend. "And besides, it's better to have them as friends rather than enemies, right?" she retorted. Storm gave a reluctant sigh of agreement. Crystie turned to the forest, "Time to make some friends".

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Orange and brown leaves crunched beneath Crystie's feet as the marched through the forest, searching for any of the dragons she had seen earlier. She had told Storm to wait by the river as she didn't want to start anymore unnecessary fights. She really hoped this plan of her's would work otherwise she didn't know what to do. A rustling noise turned her attention ahead of her. The young viking crept up to a tree and pressed herself against it, peeking around it to see what had made the sound.

The gronckle she had seen was clawing at a large boulder lodged in the ground, most likely trying to break it apart. The brown dragon managed to break off a small chunk off the side which was sent flying in Crystie's direction; she pressed herself against the tree as the rock went flying past her and landing on the floor with a soft thump. Crystie gave a sigh of relief that the rock had missed her and turned back around to look at the gronckle. The gronckle slumped down on the ground in annoyance that it wasn't able to get any rocks. Crystie felt bad for the dragon; it was most likely hungry and just wanted some food. She turned her attention to the discarded piece of rock laying a few feet away from her. She picked it up, it was an irregular shape, and put it in her bag. The young viking then turned and started walking towards the gronckle.

The gronckle must have heard her coming through the bushes since as soon as Crystie walked through the bushes, it turned and started aggressively growling towards the young viking. She threw up her hands in defense. "Hey, hey. I'm not here to hurt you" Crystie said in a hushed voice. The dragon seemed unfazed by the young viking's words and kept growling at her. Crystie pondered what she should do next, not wanting to anger the dragon more. An idea popped into her mind; she pulled the rock out of her bag and held it up so the gronckle could see it. Its demeanor quickly changed, it gained a happy look in its eyes, its tongue hung out of its mouth and a happy smile on its face. It eyed the rock, looking pretty hungrily.

The young viking slowly made her way towards the brown dragon, trying to remain calm. When she got close enough, she tossed the rock into the dragon mouth and it ate it happily in one bite. Crystie gave a sigh of relief that the gronckle was no longer aggressive. She streched out her hand and placed it on the gronckle's snout. The gronckle embraced the young viking's touch and gave a happy roar as Crystie kept stroking its snout. "Hey, do you mind if I give you a name?" Crystie asked the brown dragon. The gronckle gave a slight look of confusion before giving a nod of agreement. The young viking then began thinking of possible names for the gronckle. An idea then popped into her head. "How about Rocky, do you like that?" she asked the dragon. He seemed to ponder on the idea before nodding and giving a happy growl. He nuzzled against the young viking and she gave a small chuckle. Crystie started to move away. "I have to go now, but I'll be back later" she said as she kept backing away. Rocky nodded in understanding. Crystie then turned around and walked back into the undergrowth of the forest.

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The young viking was now walking through slightly different part of the forest, trying to find the other two dragons she had seen. A large orange leaf blew directly into her face, blinding her and making her stumble a bit. She scrunched up her nose in annoyance and grabbed the leaf on her face, removing it from her face and throwing it away. A loud roar sounded in the distance caught Crystie's attention and she turned to the direction of the noise. She crouched down behind some bushes and peered over.

The zippleback she had seen was near a small stream, the two heads seemed to be arguing with each other. The two heads kept biting at each other, seemly getting more aggravated. The left head breathed some gas on the right head which made it start coughing. The right head kept coughing and let out a small spark which set alight the gas and called a small explosion which caused both heads to start coughing.

The young viking stood up and made her way over to the dragon but she accidently stepped on a twig, alerting the black dragon to her presence. The two headed dragon turned its heads towards the young viking and started growling at her. Crystie threw up her hands in defense. "I'm not here to hurt you" she said in a hushed voice, trying to not aggravate the dragon. The two heads continued growling. Crystie felt nervousness flow through her but she then thought of an idea. She reached into her bag, eyes still on the dragon, and pulled out an apple she had put in there. The zippleback seemed to light up when viewing the red fruit and immediately stopped growling.

The right head moved towards the apple, attempting to eat the apple but the left head bashed against it. The two heads then started biting at each other. Crystie felt sorry for the black dragon; it was really hungry and both heads wanted to eat first. She didn't have another apple on her, and she didn't know what to do. An idea then popped into her head. She grabbed the apple in both hands and broke it in half. The young viking gave a slight cough to get the dragon's attention. The two heads stopped biting each other and turned their attention to Crystie, who was holding up the two pieces of the apple. Crystie gave a warm smile as each head took a piece apple and happily munched on it. "There we go, now everyone's happy" Crystie said as the two heads finished the apple.

The two zippleback heads began nuzzling against the young viking which made her laugh. "STOP, STOP, THAT TICKLES" Crystie yelled while laughing. Both heads stopped nuzzling the young viking and they both gave her a big goofy grin. "I think I'll give you a name, does that sound good?" Crystie asked the two headed dragon. Both heads gave a nod and let out a small explosion. Crystie coughed as the smoke subsided. Both heads chuckled at the explosion they made. The young viking gave a slight chuckle at the two headed dragon. "How about Burst and Spark?" Crystie asked. The two heads nodded in agreement. She patted the Zippleback's side, giving a small smile. "I'm gonna have to leave for a bit, but I'll be back later" the young viking said as she started walking away. The Zippleback nodded in agreement. Crystie gave a big smile and two thumbs up as she walked back into the forest undergrowth.

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Crystie let out a deep sigh as she continued through the forest. There was one more dragon she needed to find, and it was the most dangerous of the trio, the Monstrous Nightmare. She soon came upon a side of the mountain and began looking for the flaming dragon. She knew it was nearby, she could feel it. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a loud and disturbing scrapping sound coming from behind her. Taking in a deep breath, she turned around to face her opponent.

The Monstrous Nightmare was clinging to the side of the mountain, glaring down at the young viking. Crystie felt some slight terror course through her but she ignored it and kept staring at the dragon. The Nightmare scaled down the stone wall and landed infront of the young viking, towering over her. Crystie could feel the dragon's breath blowing on her face. It was staring into Crystie's eyes with absolute anger. Crystie stared back with all the confidence she had. She slowly streched her hand out towards the dragon's snout. The Nightmare slightly backed away when Crystie tried to come close. It kept growling when Crystie tried to get close. She kept moving her hand towards its snout, despite the growling. She eventually managed to put her hand on the dragon's snout and started lightly stroking it. The Nightmare seemed to relax a bit, but it still seemed a bit agitated. Crystie gave a small smile and kept stroking.

The Nightmare seemed to enjoy the stroking and seemed less tense than before. She then heard the dragon's stomach growl; it must be very hungry. Crystie removed her hand from the dragon's snout and it raised its head towards the trees. It walked over to the trees and pulled off a branch containing a couple of apples. He walked back over Crystie and lowered the branch down to her level. Crystie gave the dragon a confused look and he kept nudging the branch against her. "You want me to take one?" the young viking questioned.; The dragon nodded. Crystie gave a small smile and took one of the apples hanging off the branch. The nightmare then began eating the rest of the apples that were on the branch. Crystie bit into her own apple and it tasted really good.

"Do you mind if I give you a name?" Crystie asked the eating dragon. The Nightmare nodded in approval and set itself on fire, which scared Crystie a bit. The Nightmare gave what seemed to be a laugh which made Crystie give a nervous chuckle in response. The dragon extinguished the fire, still chuckling. "How about Flame?" Crystie suggested. The Nightmare nodded in approval and sent a stream of fire into the sky. Crystie gave a slight chuckle. "I gonna have to go now but I'll be back soon" Crystie told her new dragon friend; Flame nodded in understanding. Crystie gave a thumbs up and walked back into the forest.

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Crystie made her way back to the clearing where the fight had taken place earlier; Storm was waiting for her. The blue dragon lit up when she saw her friend and ran over to nuzzle her. "Yes, yes, I'm glad to see you two" Crystie assured her dragon friend. Storm stepped back a bit to give her friend some space. Crystie looked up at Storm. "Right, I think I befriended the dragons" she explained. Storm gave Crystie a curious look. "Yes, I did, well, I think I did and that's the good thing" Crystie said. Storm just shrugged in acceptance. "Okay, now all we need to do is get them together and help them make up" Crystie continued. "Now, how are we gonna get them together without starting another fight..." Crystie muttered to herself and began pacing around the area. She noticed Storm charging up an attack like the one she used in the forest fire. Storm then aimed the attack into the sky and shot out a bright beacon like stream of fire. Crystie quickly covered her eyes with her arms to block the light. The light quickly subsided. "That'll work" Crystie commented.

Storm suddenly became hostile, her spines rose, and she was franticly looking around for something. This made Crystie also look around, trying to locate the threat. She heard a rustling noise coming from the bushes behind her, so she turned around to face it. Rocky came walking out of the bushes; he looked happy to see Crystie, but he immediately went hostile when he spotted Storm. Burst and Spark then came out of the bushes to Crystie's right and began growling at Rocky. The brown dragon turned his attention away from Storm and onto the black two headed dragon.

Crystie looked franticly between the two growling dragons. "Please, stop fighting" Crystie pleaded. A rustling noise came from her right and Flame stepped out of the bushes. The larger dragon started growling at Rocky and Burst and Spark. The three dragons kept growling and roaring at each other, completely ignoring Crystie's and Storm's presence. The young viking tried to go over and stop the fighting between the dragons but Storm put out a wing to hold her back, shaking her head.

The three dragons suddenly stopped growling at each other and started growling at Crystie and Storm. Crystie felt a drop of sweat trickle down her forehead, they were in trouble. "Run" Crystie said; Storm looked at Crystie with a look of confusion. The three dragons began charging towards the two friends. "RUN" Crystie yelled as she quickly started running away from the angry dragons. She climbed onto Storm's back and the two began charging through the forest. She could hear the dragons roaring behind her.

A stream of flame shot past her, nearly hitting them and luckily not setting anything on fire. Crystie looked behind her to see the dragons flying close behind them but not being able to catch up to them. She felt Storm suddenly stopped which made her fall forward a bit. She looked back to see they had been corned on the edge of a cliff. "Why are there so many cliffs on this island" Crystie thought to herself. The two friends turned around to see the three dragons cornering them, giving them no way of escape.

The three dragons were still growling and slowly walking towards Crystie and Storm with Storm growling back. Crystie looked around franticly, desperately trying to find a way out but sadly not being able to find anything. She then noticed that Storm had flattened her spines and was backing up against the cliff. "Storm, what are you doing?" Crystie questioned with a slight hint of fear in her voice. Storm was on the very edge of the cliff. Crystie felt like her heart was in her throat. She flung her arms around Storm's neck, worried about what was going to happen next. The blue dragon closed her eyes, folded her wings, took a deep breath and fell backwards off the cliff. "STORM..." Crystie yelled as they descended towards the ground. Her heart was beating franticly. She closed her eyes, waiting for impact.

The world around her seemed to shift and she felt like was no longer falling. She opened her eyes to see what happened. She was flying, they were flying. Storm had her blue and white wings spread out and they were gliding over the beautiful orange wonderland. Storm tilted her head back at her friend and gave a small smile as if to say, 'I knew what I was doing'. Crystie smiled and patted Storm on the head. The blue dragon gave a happy squawk and headed towards the cliff they were previously on.

A feeling of familiarity coursed through Crystie as they flew. She had flown on a dragon before, and fairly recently too. Her mind drifted back to a vague memory of flying on a dragon over the ocean in a really harsh thunderstorm; she could remember what dragon she was flying on and only remembered falling off the dragon and into the ocean. She shook her head, that thought was for another time.

Storm flew back up towards the top of the cliff and let out a loud roar at the other dragons. Rocky and Burst and Spark seemed to cower a bit under Storm's intimidation. Flame stood tall, growling at Storm, as if challenging her. Storm shot a few spines extremely close to Flame's head, silencing him. Storm was going to fire again but Crystie put out her hand, as if to stop her and shook her head. Storm nodded in understanding and landed back on the ground.

Crystie got off of Storm and walked over to the other dragons who were slightly shaking. She walked over to Rocky and started stroking his snout, which calmed him down. "See, there's no reason to be scared, we're just here to help" Crystie said as she went over to stroke Burst and Spark's snout. Burst and Spark started purring and calmed down a lot. She walked over to Flame, who seemed agitated. "We just everyone to get along and be happy" Crystie said, trying to de-escalate the situation. She started stroking Flame's snout, giving him a small smile. Flame finally seemed to relax.

Storm walked up to her and nudged her. "Yeah, we should get going" Crystie said. She climbed onto the blue dragons back and began walking into the forest. She heard a wining noise behind her and motioned Storm to stop. She looked behind her to see Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame following behind them. "Do...do you want to come with us?" Crystie asked. All three dragons nodded. She looked at Storm. "What do you think?" Crystie asked her dragon friend. Storm looked at Crystie, then at the three dragons, then back at Crystie and just shrugged. Crystie turned back to the three dragons. "Looks like we've gained three new members to our little gang" Crystie said with a smile. The three dragons gave a cheer of joy. Storm seemed to chuckle and took off into the sky, heading home with the other dragons following behind them.

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The group had flown back to the lake, flying through the hole in the roof and landing outside the cave. Cypress and Redwing had come bounding out of the cave to greet Crystie and Storm. Crystie introduced the two younger friends to the three new dragons they had met today and the three in question gave a small smile. Redwing gave a happy smile, excited to meet new friends but Cypress was terrified at the three unknown large dragons. He quickly ran away and up a tree. It took Crystie and Redwing about twenty minutes to coax the frighten cat out of the tree. Cypress eventually came down from the tree and interacted with the trio of dragons, sticking close to Redwing the whole time.

With Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame's help, the group had started making good progress on the home. Rocky had made the cave slightly bigger but not by a huge amount, Burst and Spark had dug out a small square for a house foundation and Flame had pulled out quite a few trees.

The group was taking a break near the lake. Rocky was sleeping on a rock, Burst and Spark were talking amongst themselves, Flame was playing with Cypress and Redwing and Crystie was leaning against Storm, looking out on the lake. Everyone was relaxed, except for Crystie.

She kept thinking of that memory she thought of earlier. It kept replaying in her head. It had a such a familiar feeling, but once again, she couldn't pinpoint where from. She cursed herself for having a bad memory. From what she had gathered, she had come from a place that trained dragons; they had several types of dragons; she had had her own dragon before Storm; she had ended up in a bad thunderstorm and somehow got separated from her previous dragon. She shook her head. She wished she had the full picture but at the moment, she only had scattered pieces. Hopefully one day she'd have a full picture or at least a clearer picture. One day she'd know why she had left her home and lost her memory, one day.

She gave a deep sigh; she'd have to figure that out another time. Crystie stood up, streched and whistled. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention over to Crystie. "All right everyone, breaktimes over. Lets get back to work".

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**And that's what happened. It was very strange meeting some new dragons but also very exciting at the same time. These dragons are only pieces of my mysterious past that I hope one day to piece together and maybe, they'll be there to help me do it.**

**Anyway, that's all from me today**

**I hope to talk to you again soon**

**This is Crystie, signing out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter
> 
> That is all the chapters now moved over so from the next chapter onwards, all three sites will be updated at the same time
> 
> As always, feel free to leave a comment, feedback is always appreciated
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	5. Whispers in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back to my attempt at writing a story.  
> This would’ve come out sooner if I didn’t have a college assignment I had to work on but it’s here  
> Anyway, let’s get into the chapter

**Dear Diary…  
Help isn’t easy to get. Sometimes it can take a long time to find the right type of help; but sometimes help can be found from unexpected places…**

It had been a few days since Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame had joined their little group, and everything seemed to be going well; they had been making good progress on making a proper home and Crystie thought it was going well. They had started making a foundation for the house near the entrance of the cave that they were living in. While the cave was nice, it was getting a bit small for all of them to try and sleep there every night. Crystie didn’t want anyone to sleep outside so she decided to deal with it; Although, she figured that it was a bit too tight for Cypress and Redwing as they clung to Crystie for comfort every night. Hopefully soon they would be able to have a bigger space for all of them.

They were currently taking a small break from working; the dragons were outside relaxing in the sun while Crystie, Cypress and Redwing were sitting in the cave, looking through her book of dragons. She was looking through the boulder class section and was currently on a page about a dragon called the _‘Whispering Death’_. It was a large snake like dragon, with a large head and lots of rotating teeth, white bulging eyes, a long thin body with a spikes going down the body and a pair of medium sized wings. It was known for digging tunnels underground with its large mouth of teeth, also it had poor eyesight, so it spends most of its time underground. It was also known for being very aggressive and wouldn’t hesitate to attack anyone that trespassed on its territory. 

The young viking’s attention was turned elsewhere when she heard a high-pitched sneeze come from Redwing; She jumped at the sudden noise. She looked over at the young dragon who was laying down to his best friend; the young dragon had gotten big, going up to her waist now. Redwing sneezed again and Cypress swatted his nose with his paw. Redwing looked slightly shocked and annoyed at his friend and swatted Cypress face with his wing. The two started play fighting and tussling around the area. 

Crystie gave a slight smile, put her book down near her other belongings and walked over to the two fighting friends and picked them up, one in each hand. “Come on you two. There’s no need to fight” Crystie said to the two friends; They both looked down in shame. She then put them down and knelt down. “Now come on, it’s time to go explore the island” she said softly to the two. That definitely brought up Cypress and Redwing’s spirit and they excitedly ran out the area. Crystie gave a small chuckle at the two friends antics. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the area to meet with everyone. 

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The group were in a thick part of the forest where there were lots of pine trees; they were looking for more materials for the home. Cypress and Redwing were chasing each other around the area while other dragons looked for the materials. Crystie was halfway up a tree, attempting to pull of a tree branch with lots of firs on it whilst also keeping an eye out for the two young friends. 

The two young friends kept chasing each other around a hole. Redwing stopped infront of the hole, sticking his tongue out and generally teasing his friend. Cypress seemed offended, running and tackling his friend. What they both didn’t realize was that they were really close to the hole and the force of the tackle was enough to send them both into it. They both let out a yelp in surprise. 

Crystie immediately fell from the tree, pulling the branch with her and falling onto her back. She slightly grunted but ignored the pain, scrambling over to the hole. “CYPRESS, REDWING” Crystie yelled into the dark, deep hole. The other dragons quickly ran over to the hole, clearly looking stressed. The young viking could hear a very distant and faint meow coming from the tunnel. She gave an annoyed sigh, those two were so difficult to deal with sometimes. She turned to the distressed dragons. “I’m going to go down the hole to try and find Cypress and Redwing. You guys go try and find another entrance” she ordered. Everyone except Storm nodded; the blue dragon gave her a worried look but Crystie gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. It’s Cypress and Redwing we need to worry about” she reassured her worried friend. With that, Storm nodded, and the dragon group went off to look for another entrance.

Crystie put the branch she had been holding in her bag and faced the hole; The hole was small, but it was big enough for her to fit down. She sighed, knelt down next to the hole, flung her legs over the hole entrance and jumped down. The hole quickly turned into a tunnel as Crystie quickly slid down the dark cramped space. She held her bag close to her chest as she kept descending the tunnel. 

Soon enough, the tunnel came to an end and Crystie was deposited into a cave. The tunnel ended at the roof of the cave so the young viking fell flat on her stomach on the floor. “Ow” Crystie grunted as she pushed herself off the stone-cold floor. Sitting up, she rubbed her back and scanned her surroundings. She was in a large cave, or at least she thinks it was large since she couldn’t see much due to the minimal light.

The young viking stood up and brushed herself off. “CYPRESS, REDWING?” she called out, hoping to get some sort of reply. She tried to look around but there was hardly anything could be seen. A crumbling noise behind her caught her attention and made her turn around. Before she could do anything, Cypress and Redwing charged straight into her, knocking her flat on her back. The two friends kept nuzzling against the young viking. Crystie stroked both of their heads. “I’m glad you two are safe” she sighed as she stroked their heads. They both purred happily. 

Crystie stood up and Cypress leapt onto her shoulder while Redwing leapt into her arms. She squinted, trying to see better in the darkness but to no avail. She turned to Redwing “can you light a fire for us?”. Redwing nodded and lit a small fire in his mouth, lighting up the area a small bit. They started walking down one of the tunnels that was connected to the cave.

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The trio walked down the dark, cold tunnel; the only light coming from Redwing. Crystie didn’t know why but she had a constant shiver going down her spine, like someone was watching them and she swore she could hear whispering. Soon they came across another cave that was slightly bigger than the previous. 

Redwing suddenly started coughing, extinguishing the fire and plunging them into darkness. The only thing she could hear was the thumping of her own heart and the sound of heavy breathing. Crystie sighed and closed her eyes, although she couldn’t really tell any difference. 

A few moments later, low whispering filled the young viking’s ears. Her eyes quickly shot open and were franticly searching the area. “Quick, light a fire” Crystie commanded. Moments later, Redwing lit a fire, and the area was lit up in a warm orange light. She scanned the area, looking for the source of the unknown noise. Her sight landed on a tail hanging from the roof. The tail was thin and rather spikey, similar to a deadly nadder’s but with more spikes. 

Crystie stared at the unknown tail for a few moments before it slithered away into the darkness. The young viking took a deep breath before slowly tilting her head towards the ceiling. A pair of pale white eyes were staring lifelessly back at her. Crystie paled when she realized what was staring back at her; it was a Whispering Death. It was a dark blue colour; darker blue, almost black spines and a pale grey mouth and underbelly and from what Crystie guessed, it looked to be male. The longer the dragon stared at her, the more uncomfortable the young viking became. She knew she needed to get out of there as quickly as possible, but she didn’t want to anger the Whispering Death in any way incase it attacked them. 

Slowly but carefully, she put both Cypress and Redwing in her arms, slowly backing into one of the tunnels while eyeing the Whispering Death. Pivoting on her foot, Crystie sprinted down of the tunnels that lead out of the cavern. A loud piercing screech ran in the young viking’s ears which indicated that the dragon was enraged and was likely chasing after them. 

The trio ran through the tunnels which seemed to be getting narrower the further they went. Crystie was careful not to trip over any jagged rocks, almost dropping the creatures in her arms. She felt her breathing become quicker and her heart beating faster. Briefly looking behind her, she saw the large mouth of rotating teeth several feet behind her. She quickly turned back around and kept running at full speed. 

Soon enough, the end of the tunnel soon came into view and the distant light flooded Crystie with relief. That relief was short lived however as she could hear the Whispering Death firing up an attack behind her. She quickly ducked as a ring of fire was shot at the ceiling infront of them. Debry began falling from the ceiling and the distant light was becoming duller and duller. In a last-ditch effort, she threw Cypress and Redwing through a small gap in the debry before everything became dark. 

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When Crystie slowly came to, she noticed the tunnel exit was blocked by a wall of debry and her left leg was stuck under a small pile of the debry. There was a slither of light shining through the cracks in the debry, barely lighting up the area. She looked over and saw the Whispering Death laying a few feet away from her, it was unconscious with its right wing buried under a large pile of debry. Crystie tried pulling her leg out but it was too stuck underneath the rubble pile. 

The dragon began waking up and when it did, it spotted Crystie. The young viking tried pressing herself against the wall, trying get some distance between her and the dragon. The Whispering Death tried to take a bite out of Crystie, but he recoiled in pain and collapsed to the floor. She felt bad for the dragon; even though it had been trying to kill her, she never wanted to see anyone in pain when she had the ability to help. 

Crystie took a deep breath and began attempting to move the rocks off her leg; the rocks were quite heavy, and she was struggling a bit but eventually she managed to get her leg free. Luckily, nothing seemed broken; However, when Crystie stood up and tried putting some pressure on her left foot, it sent pain coursing throughout her entire leg. She had to balance herself against the wall of the cave while being careful to not put any pressure on her foot. She hopped over to the dragon, kneeling down next to them. 

The young viking put her hand on the dragon’s snout; it let out a small whimper of pain. “Hey, hey. It’s going to be alright. I’m not going to hurt you” Crystie said softly to the injured dragon. The Whispering Death only let out a whimper that sounded a whisper. Crystie sighed and began examining the dragon; there seemed to be no bleeding, only a few cuts and bruises. She quickly hopped over to the injured wing and began carefully removing the rocks. The Whispering Death let out a roar of pain, lashing its tail out. Crystie quickly began stroking the distressed dragon, trying to calm them down. “shh. It’s alright, it’s alright” Crystie said in a hushed tone. The dragon seemed to calm down at the words and stopped thrashing about. 

Soon enough, Crystie had removed all the rocks and was now examining the wing. There was no bleeding, and it was only likely bruised from the cave-in. The young viking let out an exhausted sigh and sat down, leaning against the cave-in, facing the Whispering Death. Its eyes were closed so Crystie guessed it was resting. She twiddled her thumbs, unsure of what to do. She wanted to try and find another way out, but she didn’t want to put too much pressure on her foot and Cypress and Redwing would hopefully get help.

The Whispering Death opened its eyes and gave a loud yawn which sounded like a loud whisper. It brought its tail to its mouth and tried cleaning in between its teeth; It was struggling however as its tail was too big and spiky to get in-between the teeth; it also couldn’t use its tongue either since it didn’t have one. After a few minutes, the dragon gave up, moving its tail away and giving a defeated sigh, closing its eyes. Crystie felt a pan of sympathy for the dragon, it was only trying to clean its teeth. 

An idea then popped into the young viking’s head; she went into her bag and pulled out the branch she had pulled off earlier. She inched closer to the Whispering Death and lightly poked its face to get its attention. The dark blue dragon opened its eyes and looked over at the young viking, or at least she thinks it was looking since it didn’t have any pupils. 

“Hey. I noticed you were struggling to clean your teeth, so do you mind if I clean them for you?” Crystie asked. The dragon seemed to consider the offer for a few moments then slightly nodded. It closed his mouth so only its teeth were showing. Crystie began brushing the Whispering Deaths teeth which it honestly seemed to enjoy. Crystie chuckled at the dragon’s enjoyment. After a bit, Crystie had finished brushing tossed the branch away. 

Sighing, the young viking sat down against the jagged wall. The Whispering Death put its head near Crystie and gave a happy whisper. She wondered why it didn’t growl like a normal dragon. They kept whispering happily which made Crystie smile. “I’m gonna name you Whisper” she softly said as she stroked the dragon’s snout. Whisper nodded approvingly and closed his eyes, trying to get some rest. She smiled, rested her head against Whisper’s head and closed her eyes, letting herself get some rest.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A muffled squawking jerked Crystie and Whisper awake; the noise was coming from the other side of the cave-in. Crystie stood up, balancing on her non injured foot and hopped over to the cave-in. “Storm is that you?” she yelled through a gap in the wall. She heard a muffled squawk on the other side, and she thought she could hear some muffled roars as well which she guessed meant the others were there as well. 

“I’m fine guys, just a bit trapped” Crystie yelled. How were they going to get out of here; destroying the wall wouldn’t be easy. She thought for a moment before getting an idea. “I’ve got an idea” she said, she could hear Storm squawk in response. “Tell Burst and Spark to use their gas to break the rocks” she yelled through the wall. She heard Storm squawk in response and what she assumed was her walking away. Crystie hopped over to where Whisper was. “We might want to move back a bit” the young viking said; the two of them moved a few paces back so they hopefully wouldn’t be hurt by the explosion. Green gas began seeping through the cracks in the rocks. Whisper wrapped himself around Crystie and the young viking closed her eyes, bracing for the impact. 

The shockwave from the explosion was large and fierce which shook the entirety of Crystie’s body. Whisper unwrapped himself and Crystie opened her eyes. After the dust cleared, she could see Storm, Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame standing outside the cave entrance; she could also see Cypress and Redwing standing underneath Flame. 

Unbeknownst to Crystie, it had become dark and the stars were now out. The happiness on Storm’s face quickly turned to anger when she spotted Whisper standing up behind the young viking; all the dragons started growling at the Whispering Death. Crystie quickly put herself between the two. “Stop. It’s alright, he’s a friend” Crystie said, trying to defuse the situation. Storm and the others looked confused but stopped their attacks. Crystie turned to Whisper and patted him on the side; the Whispering Death looked pleased with himself. 

The young viking walked forward and immediately winced in pain; she had forgotten about her injured foot. Storm immediately rushed over to help her injured friend. Crystie stood up, using her friend for support and stood up tall. She looked over at Whisper who was beginning to slither back into the cave. “WAIT” she called out. Whisper turned back around, tilting his head in confusion. “I have a favor to ask”.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group had walked back to the area which included Whisper, although he didn’t like being outside in the light; luckily, it was night-time, so it wasn’t that bad. Crystie had ridden on Storm’s back the entire way since she didn’t feel well enough to walk. When they got to the area, Crystie got off of Storm and used Redwing to get around easily. She walked over to the cave, put all her things in her bag and walked out again. She turned to Whisper who had been patiently waiting outside. She nodded at Whisper to begin. The Whispering Death nodded back and slithered into the small cave. He began digging into the cave which sent of dust and rocks everywhere; Crystie quickly covered her eyes and slightly coughed due to all the dust. 

After a few minutes of digging, Whisper came out of the cave and smiled. Crystie stroked his side and smiled at him. “Thanks” she said in a hushed tone. Whisper nodded and slithered away, back to his cave. Crystie watched him slither way before turning to the cave entrance. They entered the cave and began looking around. The first noticeable thing was the previous cave was much bigger than before; the second noticeable thing was there was now six rooms including the previous one, all connected in a rectangle like loop. They would all have room now and have space to breath.

Crystie hopped over to the room in the right corner, putting her stuff down and leaning against the wall. Cypress and Redwing curled up on her left while Storm lay down next to her on her right. Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame lay nearby, enjoying having their own space. With a heavy sigh, Crystie closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

**Aaand that’s what happened today. I wasn’t expecting to meet a Whispering Death and injure my foot today, but life is full of surprises. I’m relived we all have space now, no longer being squeezed into a small space that we were all unhappy with. Like I said, help can come from the unexpected places.**

**Anyway, that’s all from me**

**I hope we talk again soon  
This is Crystie, signing out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand that was the chapter  
> What do you guys think about it?, I think it went well  
> Next time’s chapter is going to be something special cause we are starting what I call the ‘Expansion Chapters’. I’ll get more into what I mean by that next time so stick around if you want to find out  
> As always, leave a review as feedback is always appreciated  
> I hope you all have a nice day  
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	6. Razor-Sharp Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and welcome back to my attempt at writing a story
> 
> Happy early new year (If this is coming out on time). I hope you all had a good year (as good as it could be this year) and have a happy new year.
> 
> Anyway, before we get into the chapter, I feel like I should explain some things.
> 
> This chapter starts what I call the ‘Expansion Chapters’. These chapters are based off expansions from the School of Dragons game. They won’t be fully based on the expansions; they’ll just have elements from them that I made into a (hopefully) compelling story. This chapter is based on the ‘Call of the Death Song’ expansion, so if you know about that expansion, you’ll recognize some things.
> 
> Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough, I think it’s time we head on into the chapter  
> I hope you enjoy it…

**Dear Diary…  
Life is difficult. It will throw hardship after hardship at you, but you have to stand your ground and face life with everything you have…**

Crystie stood outside, taking in the cool, crisp October morning air. The vibrant orange leaves of the large oak trees blew in the breeze as the young viking admired the beautiful morning. The sun had barely crept over the horizon. She couldn’t believe she’d been there for two whole weeks.

Thanks to Whisper, their cave home had now expanded, and they could all have their own space; Crystie had been able to get some actual good sleep for once. Even though the space was now bigger, Crystie still wanted her own small place; Something like a small hut or cabin where she could put her things and have a bit of time to herself. They had made a small foundation of some logs and a couple of stones, but it still could use a lot of work. However, it was exhausting building the house and they all needed a break which they gladly took. 

Over the week since she’d gotten it injured, Crystie’s leg had healed up nicely and she was now able to walk and run on it without any pain; Now that she was no longer in pain, the young viking was desperate to go out somewhere and do something. She headed back inside and went into the cave she considered her room. Storm was in her room laying down, not asleep but just staring at a wall; Redwing was chasing Cypress around the area; Rocky and Burst and Spark were talking to each in the next area and Flame was meditating in an area by himself, or at least she thinks he was meditating.

Walking over to her bag that was propped against the wall, she picked it up and flung it over her shoulder. The young viking walked into the main area and clapped her hands together, attempting to get everyone’s attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around the young viking.

“I have something to say” Crystie announced, looking at the dragons around her; They all sent her confused looks. “We are leaving the island” she exclaimed. Immediately, everyone started panicking and screaming, scrambling around the place and just causing a lot of chaos. “no, no, no. Guys, you don’t understand. Let me explain” Crystie interjected, trying to calm down the panicking dragons but failing to do so. She looked over at Storm for support and the blue dragon nodded in understanding. She took in a deep breath and let out a loud, echoing roar. Everyone stopped panicking and looked over at the young viking and the blue dragon.

“Thank you Storm” Crystie nodded towards her friend who nodded. Crystie then continued “As I was saying, we are leaving the island but only for a day, like a day trip”. There was a loud sigh of relief. “We will leave the island, go explore for a bit and then come back before it gets too dark” Crystie explained. They all nodded in understanding. 

“However, someone will have to stay behind on the island to make sure our home stays safe. Any volunteers?” Crystie asked looking around at the group. The group looked nervous and uneasy, none of them wanting to stay behind. Redwing then stepped forward and squawked; Cypress stepped beside his friend and meowed as well. Crystie crouched down to better address them. “You two want to stay?” she asked. They both nodded and gave a cheeky smile. Crystie stroked their heads. “I hope you two have fun guarding this place” Crystie said with a smile. The two small friends looked determined and ran into another room. Crystie chuckled and headed outside with the others following. 

The group opened their wings, getting ready to take off. Crystie climbed onto Storm’s back while she streched out her wings. The blue dragon flapped her wings and took off, flying towards the hole in the ceiling, with the other dragons following close behind them. The group flew out the hole, over the island and towards the open ocean. 

________________________________________________

Roughly an hour later, the group were still flying over the ocean. Clouds had covered the sun, making everything that little bit darker. They hadn’t found anything yet and Crystie honestly debated turning back. A roar from Flame caught her attention; She turned her head to look at the flame dragon. He motioned his head towards something in the distance. She looked where Flame was motioning to and saw what looked like some ships bathed in fog. She signaled for the group to head that way and they began flying towards the fog bank.

As they got closer, Crystie could see that the ships were beaten up and decaying, some of them not even having a full ship. Then it dawned on her; They had come across a ship graveyard. She felt a bit of dread in her stomach but decided to ignore it and press forward. 

Everything became a bit darker once they fully entered the graveyard, probably due to the heavy fog. There were quite a few shipwrecks scattered about the place, with quite a few sharp and jagged rocks scattered about as well. The group split up to explore about. Crystie and Storm flew around before stopping infront of an interesting looking large, jagged rock. It looked like a dragon’s head coming out of the ocean, with its jaw slightly open, showing its sharp, jagged teeth; it looked slightly menacing. They looked at the rock for a few moments then continued looking around the area. 

Soon, they came upon a quite large shipwreck, possibly the biggest one in the area; the ship looked intact, only looking a bit aged and worn. Crystie pointed towards the shipwreck, indicating she wanted to go see that one; Storm nodded and roared for the rest of the group to follow. The group quickly caught up and descended towards the shipwreck. 

Safely landing on the ship with barely a creak, the group went below deck. The boat was quite large so there was a lot to explore and possibly find. “Everyone split up so we can cover more ground. Remember, roar if there are any problems” Crystie said, and with that, the group split up. Crystie went by herself towards the back of the ship and entered what seemed to be the captain’s quarters. She began to snoop around, looking for anything interesting that might catch her interest. 

The first thing that caught her eye was a couple of drawstring bags that were piled in a corner; she grabbed three of them and kept looking around, she could use them to put other stuff in. She also found a small dagger in a sheath which she quickly put in her boot as she did not have any weapons on her. Other stuff she found included 5 rolls of bandages, a compass, some blankets, some pencils and a couple of empty books. A rack of maps caught her eye, so she walked over to it and started examining them. Only two of the maps were actually labeled so she guessed the others were blank. One of the labeled maps had ‘Harmony Island’ written on them while the other had ‘Winterstone Island’ written on it. She grabbed the two labeled maps and stuffed them into one of her bags. 

A loud squawk turned the young viking’s attention away from the maps and towards the door, where Storm was poking her head through. “Is something wrong?” Crystie questioned. Storm shook her head which made the young viking raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, not sure what the blue dragon wanted. Storm nodded and headed out of the room. The young viking quickly scrambled after her friend, making sure all her bags were secured tightly. Her friend brought her to the other side of the ship where the other dragons were; they seemed to be gathered around something. “Is something wrong guys?” the young viking questioned, worried something had happened. The dragons parted so they could let Crystie through. What she saw made the young viking audibly gasp. Dragon eggs, more specifically, two dragon eggs; Both eggs looked the same so Crystie guessed that they were the same type of dragon; the eggs looked like they had plating on them like it was covered in armour. The only noticeable difference between the two was one egg was a pale silver colour while the other was jet black.

Crystie slowly walked over and crouched down infront of the eggs, gently stroking them; she could feel something gently moving inside of them which indicated they were both still alive. She gently picked up the black egg and faced Rocky. “Can I ask you to carry this safely back home?” she asked the brown gronckle. Rocky nodded and Crystie gently placed the egg in his mouth. She knew the egg would be safe with him; he may be a bit grumpy at times but deep down, he had a good heart. She then turned to the other egg and picked it up. Her reflection could be seen in the eggs shiny surface which made Crystie sigh; she kept wondering how she even ended up in this situation and if she would ever return to her old way of life. 

Her thoughts were suddenly, and rather violently, interrupted when the whole boat violently shook. She managed to regain her composure and checked the egg; the egg was luckily fine. “What was that?” she asked, slightly shocked. The dragons got very hostile, franticly looking around and dashed out of the room; Crystie ran after them, trying to keep her composure on the swaying boat. She managed to climb the ladder out to the deck with one hand on the egg and the other on the ladder. Fear froze her in her tracks when she finally got to the top.

There were eels. Giant eels. Eels that were almost as long as the boat itself; They were coiling themselves around the boat, attempting to bring it under. The young viking ran over to Storm, who looked very distressed; she climbed onto the dragons back and held tightly onto the egg. As soon as Crystie was on, Storm ran over to the side of the boat and jumped off, attempting to get into the air. They were suddenly and violently pulled down by some eels wrapping themselves around Storm’s leg, trying to pull them under. Crystie tried kicking at them but the action had little effect. She just held the egg close and closed her eyes, waiting for all this to be over. 

A firing sound made her eyes shoot open in alarm. She saw Flame diving at them, firing streams of fire at the eels. The eels let out an aggressive hiss before letting go of Storm’s leg, letting the blue dragon fly away to the others. Storm was panting heavily and Crystie was frozen in shock. She shook her head to focus and checked on the egg, the egg was fine and good. She looked over at Rocky who still had the other egg securely in his mouth. The young viking let out a huge sigh of relief. “I think that’s enough exploring for one day” she breathed out and everyone nodded in agreement, heading back in the direction of home.

________________________________________________

Soon enough, the group landed back on the island, safe and sound. Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame collapsed in the area outside the cave, clearly exhausted and trying to get some rest. Crystie collected the other egg from Rocky and headed inside the cave, both eggs in her arms. She carefully placed them on the ground next to each other before removing all the bags she had been carrying, putting the new ones in a pile while putting her personal bag near her other stuff. 

When she finished putting all her stuff down, she looked down to check on the eggs; Except the eggs weren’t there. She felt her heart drop and began franticly looking around. Her nerves calmed however, when she saw Storm curled around the eggs, nuzzling her head against them. Crystie smiled at the sight. “Someone’s feeling motherly” she teased her dragon friend. Storm sent a playful glare over at her friend. An idea then popped into the young viking’s head. 

She went over to the bags and began sorting through them, digging out some blankets. She walked over to Storm and started making a makeshift nest out of the blankets. “There we go. Now they’ll be nice and warm” Crystie commented. Storm nodded and gave a warm smile. “Just call for me when they start to hatch okay?” Crystie said. Storm nodded and lay her head down. Crystie streched her arms and walked outside. She sat down in the grass and began picking at the daisies. 

________________________________________________

Roughly a few hours later, Crystie was laying on her back in the grass. She had her arms behind her head, her eyes closed and was enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was nice to take a small rest every once in a while. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something nudging her side. Cracking one eye open, she saw Redwing looking at her with a slightly worried look on his face. She fully opened her eyes and sat up. “What’s wrong buddy?” Crystie asked, concerned with what he wanted. The small black nadder gestured towards the cave. The young viking stood up in an instance. _“THE EGGS”_ her mind screamed as she sprinted into the cave, Redwing close behind her. 

When she got to the cave, everyone was already there, gathered around Storm. Quickly walking over to Storm, she knelt down infront of her, keeping her sight on the eggs; Both eggs had several cracks and were shaking a lot. The silver egg began to break away, revealing a small silver, two clawed foot; the rest of the egg broke and crumbled away, revealing the dragon inside.

The dragon was a pale silver colour; it had four legs and a long slender neck; there were two talons on each foot, and it had a long-curved horn on the end of its snout; it was covered in reflective, metal, armour-like scales, running down from its head to the tip of its pointy tail; its teeth seemed to poke out from its lower jaw and it had ridges over its eyes that looked like eyelashes. The baby dragon had its eyes closed like it was sleeping.

Crystie was in awe. She had just witnessed her first hatching; it was a beautiful sight to behold and it warmed her heart. It was also a dragon she’d never seen before and she was always excited to meet new species. Grabbing her book of dragons, she began flicking through the pages, searching for the species that was before her. While she was looking, the other egg began breaking apart, revealing the other dragon. She stopped looking to look at the other baby. This baby dragon looked the exact same as the other baby dragon except it was a jet black colour; it also had its eyes closed.

The two baby dragons started blindly waddling around, trying to escape their blanket nest. Storm carefully nudged them back into the nest and softly nuzzled them. They both yawned and slightly opened their eyes; the silver dragon had sky blue eyes that were slightly cloudy while the black dragon had blood red eyes with the same cloudy effect. Crystie felt a warm smile creep across her face before she continued searching through the book. After a few moments, she landed on the page she was looking for. “I found it. They’re called Razorwhips” Crystie called out a bit too loudly. The loudness must have upset the baby Razorwhips as they began sniffling loudly. Then they started screaming.

Everyone except Crystie and Storm immediately jumped up in pain and scrambled out of the room. Crystie dropped the book in panic and covered her ears in pain. Storm looked in pain as well but was ignoring it to try and calm down the baby dragons. Crystie kept her ears covered, trying to figure out a way to calm the two down, but what calmed down babies?. An idea then popped into her head. She shuffled close to and picked up both baby dragons in her arms. She began rocking them side to side, trying to soothe them; The rocking seemed to do very little, however. She thought for a few moments before getting another idea. Taking a deep breath, she started to sing.

_“No need to cry my dear, I will always be here"  
"Through the storms and fire, there is need to fear"  
"you will be same from all harm"  
"so no need for alarm"_

The screaming ceased but the two still seemed to be upset.

_"Let your dreams fly away"  
"to a land of peace and play"  
"no more fear and despair"  
"and soon you will be there"_

They started to calm down, their breath steadying.

_"And now you know there is nothing to fear"  
"Now rest your mind my darling dear"  
"let your mind fly above"  
"with all my caring, adoring love"_

As Crystie finished her song, the two Razorwhips closed their eyes and started to softly sleep. A deep sigh escaped Crystie’s lips and she gently put the sleeping dragons back in their nest. She looked over at Storm who was giving her a look as if to say, ‘Where did that come from?’. the young viking just shrugged, not entirely sure where the song had come from either. She went over to where she’d accidently thrown her book; she picked up the book and put it back with her other personal stuff. 

As she put the book away, her mind buzzed. Where had she known that lullaby from?. She must have heard it often to memorize it that much. Her guess was that her mother sung it to her; she must have sung it to her when she was upset like Crystie had done to the two baby Razorwhips. She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. Her past kept alluding her, little pieces coming through, almost teasing her; it was like her memories were a puzzle piece, but she hardly had any pieces, and she didn’t even know how many pieces there were which made her even more frustrated. She let out a deep breath; getting mad and frustrated wasn’t going to help her figure anything out. And besides, she had two baby dragons to help raise now. Walking over to Storm, Crystie sat down and leaned against her and stared up at the ceiling. A deep sigh escaped her lips. “This is going to be a long day.

________________________________________________

A few hours later and everyone was getting ready for dinner. Even though they had a lot of fruit, they couldn’t live on that alone; so Storm, Redwing, Rocky and Flame had gone fishing in the lake. Burst and Spark had wanted to go too but Crystie didn’t want to fry the entire fish population of the lake. 

While the dragons were fishing, Crystie was outside, continuing to look at the book for more information about the Razorwhips with the babies and Cypress laying next to her. The Razorwhips had been named Blue and Red due to their respective eye colours; Storm had approved the names since she was basically the mother of the Razorwhips now. 

Going back to the book; According to the book, Razorwhips were born blind but gained their sight gradually during their life; Also, Razorwhips were vulnerable when they are young as apparently male Razorwhips ate their young which slightly horrified Crystie. Because of this behavior, female Razorwhips were quite aggressive towards all males, no matter the species. Crystie hoped that Blue and Red wouldn’t be aggressive towards the males of the group as growing up with them would hopefully make them more friendly towards each other. She pushed that thought aside for the moment and continued looking through the book. Her sight landed over what it said Razorwhips could eat; While they mainly ate sea slugs, they could eat fish. This was good news as she didn’t really feel like searching the ocean for sea slugs. 

A noise made her look from the book; the dragons had finished fishing and made a pile of the freshly caught fish. Crystie closed the book, put it back inside the cave and walked back to the fish pile where the group were starting to take their portions. She walked over to where Storm, Redwing, Cypress and Blue and Red were sitting; Rocky and Flame were sitting on the sand, chatting and eating while Burst and Spark were sitting nearby, arguing over a fish. Storm had grabbed fish for the small group. Cypress and Redwing were sharing a fish while Storm started munching away. Crystie picked up a fish and began waving infront of Red, trying to get her to eat it. The baby black dragon refused to eat it, turning her head away in disgust. Crystie sighed and turned to Blue hoping she would eat it instead; Blue, sadly, did the same thing as her sister. Crystie threw the fish on the ground in frustrated and groaned “WHY IS TAKING CARE OF CHILDREN SO HARD???”. 

Storm sighed then looked like she had an idea; She picked up the fish in her mouth and started chewing it. Crystie was about to ask what she was doing when Storm spat out the chew up fish which looked like a pile of mush. Crystie was slightly disturbed, “Ew”. Blue and Red wondered over to the mush pile and began happily eating. The young viking stared for a few moments before shrugging, that’s just how life was she guessed. She picked up a scattered nadder spine, stabbed the fish with it and held it up to Storm. The blue dragon happily roasted the fish. “Thank you” Crystie smiled and began digging into the fish. Storm nodded in reply and continued munching on her fish.

________________________________________________

Everyone was outside, enjoying the evening sun. Crystie was leaning against a tree; Storm was laying next to her, watching Blue and Red playing while everyone else was relaxing. The young viking glanced over at Storm, who was happily looking at the two baby Razorwhips play with each other. Seeing her friend so happy made Crystie smile. Storm’s mother hadn’t been very good to her and Redwing; hopefully, Storm would be a better mother to Blue and Red than her own mother had been to her. 

Blue and Red waddled over to Storm and laid against her, falling asleep. Storm sent a slight worried glance over at her friend. Crystie just patted the blue dragon’s side. “Don’t worry, you’ll do just fine” she reassured her worried friend. Storm gave a slight nod and smiled, turning back to look at the two sleeping dragons beside her. Crystie just turned back towards the lake, enjoying the rest of the pleasant evening. 

**Aaand that’s what happened today. Finding two Baby Razorwhips and raising them wasn’t on my agenda today but I won’t turn it down. It will definitely be hard and there might be a few problems along the way, but I believe we can raise these dragons to have a bright, happy future.**

**Anyway, that’s all from me  
I hope we talk again soon**

**This is Crystie, signing out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter
> 
> What do you guys think?, I honestly enjoyed writing this one
> 
> This technically is the first part of the ‘Call of the Death Song’ Expansion Chapters so if you want to see more, stick around. And like I said in the beginning, if you know the expansion, you’ll know what’s coming next; well, somewhat.
> 
> Also, I want to give a shoutout to my friend Doom for helping me come up with the Lullaby I have named ‘My Dear’. I am terrible when it comes to writing songs, so I appreciate his help a lot, thanks Doom.
> 
> Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a review as feedback is always appreciated 
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out


	7. Melody of Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and welcome back to my story.  
> 
> 
> And before any of you berate me, I know it’s been *checks watch*almost two months since I last uploaded but I do have a reasoning, I’ll just explain it at the end of the chapter since I don’t want to ramble on too much in the beginning.  
> 
> 
> Back to the chapter, this is the second part of the ‘Call of the Death Song expansion pack’. After writing this, it had a few similarities to the RTTE episode ‘Tone Death’, so if you’ve seen that episode, this chapter might have a slight feeling of familiarity to it.  
> 
> 
> Anyway, enough blabbering, lets get into the chapter…

**Dear Diary…  
Trust is a fragile thing. While it can easily be obtained, it can also be shattered just as easily…**

Crystie was bored. She was bored and agitated; even though it had only been a few days since her last ‘adventure’, she was desperate to go out again. The past few days, she and the others had focused on caring for Blue and Red which had taken all their energy; They were exhausted and needed a break.

The early morning sun streched across the area, bathing everyone in a warm light. Crystie was sitting down, picking at the grass, trying to find some excitement in the task. She’d looked through the entirety of the Book of Dragons and didn’t particularly feel like going through it again. 

Storm tried playing with the twins while everyone else lounged around. The blue dragon was playing with a moss ball, flicking it over in the twin’s direction, hoping they’ll send it back; Neither of them seem interested however, preferring to lay on top of each other. Storm sighed, giving up on trying to entertain her children; she walked over to Crystie and sat down. 

“Any luck?” Crystie asked.

Storm shook her head and let out an exhausted sigh, tiredness was getting to all of them. Crystie gave a quick glance over at Flame, who kept lighting a small trail of Monstrous Nightmare gel then extinguishing it; Rocky and Burst and Spark were just lying flat on their stomachs; They all needed to get out and do something otherwise they’d all die from boredom.

An idea popped into the young viking’s head.

Standing up, she rushed into the cave and began digging through the stuff she had gotten a few days prior. She grabbed one of the two labeled maps there were and began looking over it.

The map was labelled _‘Harmony Island’_ and had a somewhat detailed sketch of the island which had notes dotted around the outside. According to the notes, Harmony Island had lots of lush foliage, crystal clear waterfalls and amazing views.

This sounded like the perfect place to go. The young viking ran outside, map in hand.

“GUYS, WE’RE GOING ON VACATION” Crystie announced.

A small while later, everyone was just about ready to leave.

Crystie had grabbed the map, her bag, her dagger and some food. Grabbing another bag, she gently placed the twins inside and made sure it was secure. She placed the bag near Storm’s foot and turned around, kneeling to get to Cypress and Redwing’s level.

“Are you sure you two don’t want to come?” she questioned, looking between the two.

The two friends nodded, looking very confident with themselves. Crystie let out a small sigh.

“Alright, but you two better behave yourselves or we’re going to have some words when we get back” Crystie instructed.

Cypress and Redwing gained cheeky grins on their faces and ran back into the cave to do who knows what. The young viking let out another sigh but had a smile on her face; she knew they meant well and that they could do anything too bad.

Turning around, Crystie walked over to Storm and picked up the twin’s bag, climbing onto Storm’s back. Storm gave her a smile and Crystie returned a smile of her own.

“Alright, let’s go” Crystie shouted.

With that, the group took off into the air, out of the area and into the open sky.

____________________________________________

Hours passed and the group were still flying over the open ocean. Crystie was trying to figure out how to read the map and compass since she’d never used them before (or at least in recent memory); But after an hour of faffing about, they eventually made their way in the direction of Harmony Island.

Going on a vacation seemed to be a good decision as everyone enjoyed being out and about instead of cooped up in one area all day.

The twins were becoming restless in her arms, trying to escape from their bag and being very loud. Crystie prayed they got to the island soon.

Storm’s squawk brought her out of her thoughts. She looked at the blue dragon who was motioning towards her. Following where she was motioning towards, Crystie could see the vague image of an island in the distance, likely their intended destination.

“Alright guys, full speed ahead” Crystie called out.

The group let out a happy roar and sped ahead, towards the upcoming island.

Soon, they touched down on the soft ground of the island. 

Crystie slid off of Storm and plopped onto the ground, putting the bag she was holding down; The dragons streched their wings as the young viking looked around the place. True to the map’s word, the island was full of lush foliage, large, towering autumn trees, the peaceful sound of rushing water and the wonderful smell of nature.

“Wow. This place is beautiful” Crystie mumbled, taking in the sight and sounds around her. A particular sound made her turn around. Blue and Red had somehow managed to escape their bag and were now fluttering away from the group. 

“HEY, where are you two going?” she yelled as she ran after the two baby dragons. 

Rocky flew up infront of them, stopping them and blocking their path. Flame walked up to the two babies and softly grabbed them in his jaws. He lowered his head and deposited them in the young viking’s arms.

“No flying off you two, you got that?” Crystie asked, looking down at the siblings. The twins didn’t answer and kept squabbling with each other. 

Crystie gave a sigh of defeat and looked over at Storm, pleading for help. The blue dragon gave a small smile before laughing and running off into the forest, followed by the rest of the dragons.

“HEY, THESE ARE YOUR CHILDREN. AT LEAST WAIT FOR ME” Crystie yelled after the group.

Her pleading fell on deaf ears however, as the group kept running further and further into the undergrowth. Letting out another sigh, she looked down at the twins squirming in her arms.

“At least you two won’t run off right?” Crystie asked the two dragons. Blue and Red gave her lopped sided smiles in return which made the young viking laugh. The twins were so young and had so much to learn but she knew they had good hearts and hopefully, they would be able to pass that kindness onto others. Hugging the Razorwhips close, the young viking proceeded to walk where the group had disappeared to.

____________________________________________

Crystie was walking through the forest, slowly getting closer to the rocky canyon area. She couldn’t find Storm or the others. It’s like they simply disappeared. She could sense the twins starting to worry, probably wondering where their mother was.

“It’s okay, we’ll find them” Crystie reassured the whimpering dragons. 

She was about to say something else when a song like call echoed around the area. It was quite loud but somewhat pleasant to listen too.

A shadow flew over her which made her look up; a flock of dragons were flying overhead, heading towards the rocky area; On closer inspection, she realized that the flock was Storm and the others. She started sprinting towards them, trying to get their attention.

“HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOING?” Crystie yelled at the group.

They were either ignoring her (which they wouldn’t do) or they couldn’t hear her, which seemed like the more likely option. 

Her running was cut short when the group when over the wall, into the rock area. Leaning against the wall, Crystie breathed hard, trying to get air back in her lungs. The twins looked up at her, tilting their heads as if to say, ‘are you alright?’. 

“Yeah, I.. I’m fine” Crystie breathed out.

She looked up at the towering rocks. The wall was tall and sturdy but had random rocks dotted about the place so climbing wasn’t an option. Looking ‘round more, the young viking noticed a small fissure in the wall that looked big enough to walk through. Grabbing the second bag, she placed the twins in it, making sure they were secure. 

“I need you guys to stay in here and be quiet, can you do that?” the young viking asked the two siblings. 

The twins nodded and Crystie closed up the bag. Flinging the bag strap over her shoulder, she carefully picked up the bag, held it close to her chest and began walking through the rocky path. She maneuvered through the rocky canyon, trying to avoid jagged rocks and keep the twins safe. A sharp rock grazed Crystie’s arm, luckily not drawing any blood. She shook off the numbness and continued down the path.

____________________________________________

The young viking eventually made it to the end of the path and came out at a large area; The area was canyon like, surrounded by large, mossy stones. She looked around and what she saw horrified her.

There were several dragons dotted around the place, covered in a weird orange substance and they didn’t look very happy. Blue and Red tried to poke their heads out of their bag but Crystie pushed them back down, shushing them in the process. 

She held her bag straps tight as she wondered through the suffering dragons, keeping an eye out for where her group could be in this mess. That’s when she heard a familiar squawk. Immediately running into a sprint, trying to find the source of the squawk; she soon found the source and gasped at the sight; There was Storm, Rocky, Burst and Spark and Flame, all covered in the strange orange substance; She rushed over to them.

“Are you guys okay, are you hurt?” Crystie asked, checking the dragons over for injuries.

Storm sent her a reassuring smile, but she didn’t look happy, none of them did. She brushed her fingers over the orange substance. The substance felt smooth and hard, unable to simply be snapped off; it didn’t look like it could be cut through either so using her dagger was out of the situation.

“Can any of you move?” she asked the group. 

They all shook their heads to the best of their abilities. She stood back and let out a deep sigh, stumped on what to do.

A sudden and loud noise caught Crystie off guard and made her turn around. 

She saw a large dragon perched on top of the cliff, glaring down at her; The dragon had a large pair of wings with colourful patterns on them, it had a long snout with a curved horn on the end of it under a pair of eyes, a pair of frills on its head, long, slightly twisted horns on its head, a long thin body with two arms, two legs and a long thin tail, long spines going down its back and flaps going down its tail. The frills and flaps were a deep blue colour, its main body was a vibrant orange colour, its eyes were a piercing yellow, its wing was a variety of colours, brown body markings and its underbelly was a pale yellow. 

The orange dragon let out its call, which was the sound she had heard earlier. A gronckle flew towards the orange dragon, almost in a trance like state. The large dragon shot out some of the orange substance at the Gronckle, encasing it and making it fall to the ground.

Crystie let out a horrified gasp at the sight. The sound must have caught the large dragon’s attention as it turned its sights toward Crystie; it had a hateful and hungry look in its eyes. Crystie knew she should run, running would’ve been a good idea, but she was frozen in fear when looking at the large dragon. 

The dragon charged up an attack and shot some of the orange substance at Crystie. Her feet seemed frozen to the ground, unable to move. 

Suddenly, she felt something push her out the way and she fell to the ground. When she looked up, she saw a man standing there. His hair a medium length that was a dark brown that was starting to turn grey, it stuck somewhat upwards; his eyes were a dark brown, similar to Crystie’s; he had a thick mustache and some stubble on his face; he wore a brown jacket over a grey top with a red bandana over that and was also wearing brown fingerless gloves, dark brown pants and black boots. The man looked over at Crystie and extended his hand.

“What are you doing just sitting there. We need to go” the man said, still holding out his hand. 

Crystie felt a bit stunned and shocked but quickly took the hand, holding the twin’s bag in her other arm. The large dragon let out another roar, most likely charging up another attack. Most likely sensing the impending danger, the man held Crystie’s hand tightly and began pulling her away towards the walls of the canyon. Crystie, frankly, didn’t see any point in trying to resist or argue because, honestly, what was she meant to do, go fist fight a dragon that can knock out dragons from the air and leave them immobilized to try and save her friends? Yeah, no thanks. 

The young viking was pulled into a small crack in the cliff side and out of harm’s way. She turned her head to see the dragon clawing and snapping through the crack, trying to reach inside; however, it was too big to properly fit inside, in response, it gave an angry growl of defeat and flew away. Crystie stopped running, let out a huge sigh of relief, no longer being in immediate danger. She saw the man gesture for her to follow him down the path in the cliffside. Groaning, Crystie reluctantly followed, too exhausted to argue.

____________________________________________

The two eventually stopped walking and came upon an area similar to before, just smaller and more circular; there were several boxes and objects scattered about the place so Crystie assumed the man lived here or something. 

Crystie sat down on the ground, putting the twin’s bag down next to her and panted heavily, her chest heaving. She looked over to the man, who was filling up a cup of water from the small river flowing over the side of the wall. The man stopped filling the cup and walked over to where Crystie was, holding out the cup.

“Here, you need to drink” the man coaxed, holding the cup out more.

“Thank you” Crystie said while taking the cup before starting to drink it. The cool water felt fresh and nice on her surprisingly dry throat. She gave the cup back and let out a deep breath, finally able to breath normally.

“Now, what’s a young kid like yourself doing out here all alone?” the man questioned, putting the cup in a box and sitting on a rock a few feet away from the young viking. 

“I’m not alone; I’m with my friends” Crystie protested.

The man raised an eyebrow “Your friends you say, are they around here somewhere? I haven’t seen them anywhere”.

“Weeelll, they may have gotten in a small bit of trouble” the young viking admitted.

The main raised his eyebrow higher. Crystie cleared her throat to explain.

“We came here for a small break, a vacation if you will. We desperately needed a break, so we decided to come here. When we arrived, they ran ahead of me and by the time I caught up to them, they were stuck in that strange orange substance. I was thinking of a way to get them out when the large orange dragon started attacking me” she explained.

The man was quiet for a few moments, most likely thinking over what Crystie had said.

“So your friends are dragons?” the man said, breaking his silence.

“Yeah, it’s a complicated story that I don’t feel like getting into at the moment, but they’re trapped, and they might be in pain and I don’t know how to get them out” Crystie confessed, feeling like her breath was quickening slightly.

The man let out a sigh “The Death Song has always been a problem, for both humans and dragons, especially dragons. It lures dragons here with its song then immobilizes them with its amber, saving them for later”.

“Death Song, that’s what it’s called? Wait, what do you mean ‘saving them for later’?” Crystie questioned, not liking what the man was implying.  
The man looked slightly uneasy “Well, you see, it eats dragons”.

Crystie felt her heart drop. She suddenly felt a bit uneasy and hugged the twin’s bag close to her chest. The idea that a dragon can eat others of its kind made her stomach clench; and worse, that her friends could be eaten as well.

“Is… is there any way I can save them” Crystie asked, trying to not let the desperation in her voice show.

The man shook his head and sighed “Sadly not. That amber is impenetrable, nothing can get through it; trust me, I’ve tried”.

Crystie felt tears start to weld up in her eyes and she hugged the bag closer; she couldn’t lose them; they were too important to her.

“Please. There must be something I can do. They’re my friends, my family, I can’t just leave them” she pleaded.

The man looked like he was thinking deeply, pondering on some unknown question before he replied.

“Alright, I’ll help; but, you have to give me something in return”.

Crystie felt uneasy “I don’t exactly have much on me that I can really give”.

The man chuckled “I’m sure you’ll find something”.

Crystie put the bag down next to her and let out a deep sigh.

“You never mentioned your name” the man said, causing Crystie to look up at him.

“Oh, my name’s Crystie, nice to meet you” she introduced with a smile. 

The man smiled back “The name’s Vincent, it’s nice to meet you too”.

____________________________________________

It was a small time later that Crystie was sitting on the ground with Blue and Red in her lap. Vincent had dug out some cooked yak meet and had given some for Crystie to eat and she thanked him in the process; Vincent ate some of the meat himself, sitting a small bit away from the young viking. He kept glancing over at her and the twins, he was most likely making sure she was alright and was looking at the twins since they’re shiny amour was an eye catcher. The twins happily ate the meat Crystie gave them and it seemed like everyone was having a somewhat good time; well, as much as a good time they could have given the circumstances.

“So, what are you doing out here?” Crystie asked, trying to make conversation.

Vincent finished his food and cleared his throat to speak.

“I’m out here on business. I’m a bounty hunter you see” he explained.

“Bounty Hunter?” Crystie questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Vincent raised an eyebrow “You don’t know what a bounty hunter is?”.

“Yeah. You see, I have a bit of a memory problem” Crystie admitted, laughing half-heartedly.

Vincent shook his head and chuckled.

“Well, a bounty hunter is a person who hunts down and captures fugitives and criminals and is paid to do so” he explained.

“Huh, so is there someone out here you’re hunting down?” Crystie asked while feeding more pieces of meat to the twins.

He shook his head.

“Not this time. You see, bounty hunters can also be hired to acquire assets like jewels or important objects. I’m out here looking for something that can hopefully get me some extra money” Vincent explained.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Crystie questioned, curiosity getting the better of her.

He gave her a cheeky smile “Can’t tell you that sadly. Hunter’s code”

Crystie pouted in disappointment which made the bounty hunter chuckle. The young viking was about to ask another question when a strange sound caught her attention.

“What was that?” she asked, putting the twins aside, standing up and looking around.

“What was what?” Vincent asked, looking confused.

“That noise” Crystie said, still looking around.

The noise sounded again, echoing around the area.

“There it is again” the young viking commented.

The noise sounded somewhat like the Death Song call, except it was a slightly different tune and sounded weaker; it also sounded close, very close. She saw Vincent look at something behind Crystie, which prompted him to pull out a dagger, glaring at whatever was behind her. She slowly turned around and faced whatever had been standing behind her. 

There was a tiny Death Song perched on the top of the rocky wall, staring down at him. This Death Song looked similar to the one before except for the size and the colours; It had the same orange colour for its body and yellow eyes except its frills and flaps were a pearl white colour; its stomach and body markings were that same white colour while its wing markings were a variety of whites and oranges. If Crystie had to guess, she would say this dragon was a female, like the other one. It honestly looked close in age to Blue and Red, maybe a bit older. 

It was staring down at them with a curious look on their face.

Vincent sighed “Stand back please. I can handle this”.

He put away his dagger, slipping it in his boot. He pulled a crossbow out from his back and loaded it, aiming at the baby Death Song. Crystie felt her heart drop.  


“NO” Crystie yelled, pushing Vincent over, causing the arrow to be launched. The arrow flew past the Death Song, narrowly missing it, spooking the small dragon.  


Vincent groaned and sat up brushing himself off as Crystie also stood up.

“What was that for?” Vincent growled, putting his crossbow away.

“I don’t want to hurt them. They’re just a child” Crystie replied.

“But it’s a Death Song. It’s most likely luring its parents here so it can take us all out” Vincent argued.

“IT’S STILL A CHILD” Crystie snapped back. While yes, it may be a dangerous dragon species, it was still a child and she wasn’t going to stand by if a child was in danger.

The bounty hunter looked like he wanted to argue but instead he just sighed and walked off, going to sort something in one of the boxes.

Crystie let out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding and turned back to where the baby Death Song was. The tiny dragon glided down from its perched and landed a few paces away from Crystie; it had its back arched, was on all fours and looked a bit nervous in Crystie’s opinion. 

Blue and Red waddled over infront of the baby dragon, sniffing the air curiously. The baby Death Song stood on its hind legs, spread out its frills and let out a loud hiss, most likely trying to be intimidating to the two baby dragons. The twins, however, ignored the intimidation attempt and nuzzled against the Death Song, causing it to freeze up.

Tears started to weld up in its eyes before it broke down in a flood of tears. Blue and Red kept nuzzling the baby dragon as it hugged them close, streams of tears still flooding from their eyes. 

Crystie felt her heart break when looking at the baby Death Song. It seemed like the young dragon had not been touched in its life and had very little or no love either. It slightly reminded her of Storm and Redwing’s mother, how she didn’t treat them with the love they needed; maybe this young dragon was going through a similar situation.

The young viking shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She walked over and knelt down on one knee to face the young trio. 

“Hey” Crystie breathed out, smiling at the small dragons. 

Blue and Red turned to her, giving her sloppy smiles. The Death Song however, seemed a bit nervous, backing away a bit. Crystie held out her hand towards the little dragon.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m here to help” Crystie said with a smile.

The little dragon seemed weary to go near the young viking. The twins turned to the Death Song and gave chirps, motioning towards Crystie with their heads. The baby Death Song looked between the two Razorwhips and the young viking before slowly stalking towards Crystie on all fours. It kept edging closer to her ‘till it was a few inches away from her hand. It sniffed the hand cautiously before pressing it’s face against it. Crystie cupped the Death Song’s face in her hand and strokes it with her thumb. The small dragon’s eyes fluttered close and it leaned into the touch. 

“For someone so young, you seem to have so much pain” Crystie commented in a hushed voice, continually stroking the young dragon’s face. The Death Song looked up at her with tears in their eyes and a weary smile; Crystie sent a warm smile back.

“I think I’ll call you Amber” Crystie noted.

Amber gave a happy chirp, blinking the tears away, gladly accepting the name. Crystie let go of the young dragon’s face and the small Death Song turned to the twins, starting a small conversation with them. The young viking stood up, walked a few paces back and smiled at the interaction happening before her.  
“You seem to be really good at that” Vincent said from behind her which made her slightly jump; she honestly forgot he was there. He walked over to the young viking and stood next to her, also watching the trio of young dragons. 

“I suppose I am” Crystie replied, not looking away from the children. There was a pregnant pause.

“How do you do that?” Vincent questioned.

Crystie turned to him and raised an eyebrow “What do you mean?”.

“How’d you train it? I mean, it’s a Death Song, one of the deadliest dragons known to man and you just waltzed up to it, started stroking it and name it like nobody’s business” Vincent questioned. 

The young viking looked over at the trio; The twins were roaring at Amber and she was repeating that same roar.

“I just treated her how I would wanted to be treated, with love and care” Crystie replied at last, still watching the trio. She then realized what the young dragons were doing; Blue and Red were signing the lullaby that Crystie had sung to them to Amber. Crystie felt her heart melt, she loved these Razorwhips. 

Vincent chuckled “You’re something else kid”.

Crystie chuckled “I guess I am”.

The calm silence was broken by the adult Death Song call echoing throughout the area. Amber looked around before nuzzling the twins and flew away, over the wall and out of sight.

Crystie took a deep breath and looked over at the bounty hunter with a look of determination.

“We need a plan, and fast”.

____________________________________________

Crystie and Vincent were lying flat on their stomachs on top of one of the walls surrounding the canyon, observing the area below them. Blue and Red had been left behind at the camp since Crystie knew they’d be the safest there and Vincent said it would be better if they were out of harm’s way. Looking over the canyon, the young viking could spot several species of dragon she’d seen before, all of them encased in amber. Vincent was looking at something at the far end of the canyon through his spyglass telescope.

“You see that?” Vincent commented, handing Crystie the telescope and pointing towards the end of the canyon. Crystie took the telescope and looked through it, pointing it in the desired direction. She saw a large amber ball suspended to the walls by the thick strings of the same orange substance. Part of the ball was carved out, so it was hallow inside, it honestly looked big enough for a large dragon to sleep in.

“That’s the Death Song nest” she heard Vincent comment as she closed up the telescope and handed it back to the man in question. “That’s where it resides if it’s not hunting or eating” he continued.

“So we need to distract the Death Song long enough for us to get the dragons out” Crystie commented. Vincent nodded. 

“Are you sure there isn’t anything that can cut through or at least break down the amber?” she questioned; Vincent shook his head and sighed.

“Sorry kid, I’ve tried everything I have, nothing has even come close to cracking it”.

Crystie let out a disappointed sigh. This couldn’t be the end, there had to be a way around it. Something had to work. An idea then popped into her head.  
“Have you tried Monstrous Nightmare gel?” Crystie asked.

Vincent thought for a moment before shaking his head “No, I don’t believe I have”.

“Then we can try that, how much do you have?”

“About 4 bottles full but how would we use it exactly?” 

Crystie paused before answering, trying to think of a way to explain her thought process.

“We get the gel, surround the amber with it, light the gel on fire and the amber should break under the heat” Crystie explained.

“you sure this is gonna work?” Vincent questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Nope, completely guessing, no clue if it’s gonna work but we have to try something” Crystie said.

Vincent sighed and shook his head, but he had a smile on his face while doing so “Well then, we better get to work”.

____________________________________________

A small while later, Crystie was peering around the wall, bottles of gel cradled in her arms. The plan was simple, Crystie was to pour the gel on the amber and light it while Vincent was to distract the parent Death Song with the fireworks he had laying around, then, once everyone was free, Crystie was to book it out of there was fast as possible. It was simple, nice and easy; The fireworks weren’t big and weren’t very loud either, but they would be eye catching.

The release of said firework brought Crystie back to the present. She heard the parent Death Song roar and fly off into the distance. That was signal.

She rushed to the nearest dragon, opened the first bottle and started pouring the gel over the amber. Once she was finished pouring the gel over the first dragon, she made a trail over to the next dragon and repeated the same process as before. She repeated the process, going between each dragon, covering them in gel. 

In the process, she got to Storm and the others. Storm let out a happy squawk when Crystie came into her sights. Crystie patted the side of her head.

“Don’t worry guys, I’m going to get you out of here” she reassured her dragon friends. She continued to cover the amber.

“Flame, when I send a signal, I need you to light the gel. Can you do that?” Crystie asked when she got to flame. The flame dragon nodded and craned his neck so he would be in a position to light the trail. Crystie nodded in understanding.

Soon, she had covered all the amber in gel; she ran behind a large stone and looked around, seeing if it was clear. Seeing that it was clear, Crystie shouted “NOW”.

A flicker of light in the distance confirmed that the trail had indeed been lit and the fire was now spreading along the trail, illuminating the area in a fiery light. She heard a cracking noise and saw the amber shattering and the dragons breaking out, stretching their wings before flying away. The fire quickly died down and Crystie began running over to her friends, avoiding the wild dragons taking off. The young viking sprinted and enveloped Storm in a hug; The blue dragon hugged her back. 

Crystie broke the hug “Don’t run off like that, you scared me”. Storm looked a bit regretful but nuzzled against Crystie. The young viking chuckled and pushed the dragons head back “And next time, please take your children with you”. Storm chuckled and playfully pushed the young viking. 

“Are you guys alright?” Crystie asked the others. They nodded, stretching their body’s, probably getting all the aches out from being in that amber for hours.  


“Right, all we need to do is go get Blue and Red, say goodbye to Vincent and get out of here as fast as possible” Crystie explained. Storm gave her a questioning look, probably asking who Vincent was. Crystie lightly chuckled “I’ll explain later”.

The young viking turned around and began walking towards the crack in the wall while the dragons flew overhead. The light blinded her as she entered the area. She froze when she saw what was infront of her. Vincent was standing on the other side of the area, holding the twins while holding a dagger to their throats.  
“W… w… what are you doing?” Crystie sputtered out, shocked by the scene in front of her.

Vincent sighed “I’m sorry kid, but these dragons are coming with me; they look like they have good value, and you owe me”.

By this point, the others had landed in the area and started growling at Vincent. Crystie tried to take a step forward but the bounty hunter held the dagger closer to the twins, making them whimper. 

“But… but why, I trusted you” Crystie cried out, trying to wrap her mind around the situation.

Vincent let out another sigh “That’s just how the world works kid; You may give someone your trust and they may take advantage of it. I truly am sorry”.

Crystie felt a pang of hurt coarse through her. Vincent was the first person she’d seen since losing her memory, he seemed really kind and a good person, but that view was shattered in a moment.

Before any other moves could be made, an echoey roar sounded around the area which made everyone freeze. The adult Death Song landed on the edge of the wall and hissed at everyone. The dragons turned their attention to the orange dragon and hissed back. Vincent dropped the twins in a panic and the two dragons ran and cowered behind Storm. The blue dragon protected her children while the other dragons charged at the Death Song. 

The Death Song, seemingly unfazed by the attacks, simply wacked the trio into the wall. It then turned its attention towards Vincent, anger and hunger in its eyes. It fired its attack at the bounty hunter. In a split-second decision, Crystie ran over to Vincent and pushed him out of harms way, taking the attack. The attack launched her back, slamming her against the wall and encasing her right arm in solid hard amber; That was gonna hurt tomorrow.

Vincent rushed over to Crystie, a frantic look on his face “Why did you do that?”.

Crystie tried pulling her arm off the wall. “Well… you may be a bastard… but I couldn’t stand by… and do nothing” she grunted.

Vincent smirked “You’ve got a good heart kid”.

“Thanks” Crystie grunted, still trying to free her arm.

The young viking turned to the Death Song, who was still staring at them, a more intense anger in their eyes. It had its frills raised, standing up tall and was about to fire another attack when Amber flew infront of them. Crystie felt some slight relief from the small dragon but still distress as the situation was not over yet.  


The adult Death Song glared at Amber and let out an angry roar, clearly unhappy with the little dragon. Amber seemed a bit nervous but put on a brave face and roared back at their parent, returning a glare of her own. Shock was clear on the parent Death Song’s face; they were clearly not expecting Amber to fight back. They tried to roar back but Amber cut her off, nearly screaming and sending pain to everyone’s ears. The parent did nothing, just glared before taking off and flying away. 

Both Crystie and Vincent let out a sigh of relief, glad that the situation was over. Amber landed next to the twins and began happily nuzzling them. Storm sent the young viking a questioning look.

“I’ll explain later” Crystie assured her dragon friend who just shrugged.

____________________________________________

Time passed and the group was in the canyon, just about ready to leave. Vincent helped Crystie free her arm from the wall which only left it feeling a bit sore.

“I’m sorry for trying to take the Razorwhips. It was a mix of adrenaline and a moment of panic. I hope you can forgive me” Vincent said, shame written all over his face.

Crystie felt a bit unnerved. While she didn’t feel like the apology was really deserved, she also didn’t want to leave any bad blood and was willing to try and gain trust again. “Alright, apology accepted”.

“Oh, before we go, I recommend leaving the island, who knows when the Death Song will regain its appetite” Crystie said.

“Thanks for the advice” the bounty hunter said before starting to walk away. He walked a few paces away before he stopped, reached into his pocket, fished something out, turned around and chucked the object in Crystie’s direction. Crystie fumbled around and caught the object, staring at it. The object was a small wooden dragon statue that was roughly the size of her hand. The wooden dragons’ species was the same species as the plush she had back home, except it was more realistic and was more like what the species looked like in real life, asides from the plain colour. Crystie raised an eyebrow in the bounty hunter’s direction.

“Call it compensation, or at least a start” Vincent admitted.

Crystie cracked a smile “I hope we can meet again on better circumstances”.

“So do I kid, so do I” Vincent replied. And with that, he gave a two figured salute and walked off and out of view.

Crystie let out a sigh and turned back to Storm “Well, this has been an eventful day. I think it’s time we go home now”.

Storm nodded and allowed the young viking to climb onto her back. The other dragons were stretching their limbs, preparing for the flight home. The twins had fallen asleep in their bag which was back in Crystie’s arms. They were about to take off when Amber flew over to them, hovering infront of the young viking.

“Oh hello Amber, can I help you with something” Crystie asked the small Death Song. 

Amber landed on one of Storms spikes and let out a flurry of happy chirps, a hopeful look in her eyes. 

“Do… do you want to come with us?” Crystie questioned.

The young Death Song nodded and dived into the twin’s bag, snuggling between the two of them and falling asleep herself.

Crystie chuckled “I’ll take that as a yes”. She sighed again “Let’s go home”.

And with that, the group took off, leaving the alley, flying over the island and away from it, heading home for some well-deserved rest.

____________________________________________

**Aaand that’s what happened. Today has been more stressful (I hope I don’t have any more days like this) but there has been some good out of it, we gained a new member to our family in the form of Amber the Death Song. She’s sweet and seems to enjoy the twin’s company a lot; hopefully, we can get the ‘eating other dragons’ out of her system otherwise things are going to get very awkward very quickly.**

**Vincent is an interesting person. He seems like a good person although I don’t know if I can fully trust him again; if we ever meet again, it’ll take time to build up trust if he doesn’t shatter it into pieces but hopefully he’ll make the right choice.**

**Anyway, that’s all from me today.  
I hope we talk again soon.**

**This is Crystie, signing out.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that was the chapter.  
> 
> 
> Did you guys enjoy it, I had more fun writing this chapter than I was expecting. I did restructure the way I do chapters a bit, so I hope it’s a pleasant change.  
> 
> 
> And now to explain why I haven’t uploaded in two months.  
> 
> 
> Basically, I’ve decided to change the schedule on how I write this which translates to I don’t really have a schedule anymore.  
> 
> 
> The reason for this is:  
> 
> 
> 1\. Writing a chapter in a month is kriffing hard when I’m writing chapter notes for other chapters, writing other stories, balancing my college life and my home life.  
> 
> 
> 2\. It allows me to not rush any work which could end up running a chapter.  
> 
> 
> 3\. It’s better on my mental health as I’m taking my time doing I love which shouldn’t feel like a chore.  
> 
> 
> Thank you for understanding. I’ll try to get chapters out as soon as possible but I’m no longer pushing myself to meet a deadline as that just end badly.  
> 
> 
> Moving on from that, next chapter is another Expansion Chapter so you can look forward to that.  
> 
> 
> Anyway, I’m tired from writing this and am gonna go get some food and have a nap.  
> 
> 
> As always, feel free to leave a review as feedback is always appreciated.  
> 
> 
> I hope you all have a nice day.  
> 
> 
> This is CrystieSong, signing out.


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